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Class 11 Physics Online Notes Periodic and Harmonic Motion 11th Physics Periodic motion of a simple pendulum If the motion of an object is periodic, then there is a characteristic time: the time it takes for the motion to repeat itself. This is called the period (of the periodic motion) and is usually given the symbol T: Period (T): The time for one complete cycle of the periodic motion. For example, the period of the rotation of the earth about its axis is one day. During the quarter, when classes are in session, the period of our activities is one week. We can also speak of the number of cycles repeated per unit time. This is called the frequency of the periodic motion: frequency (f): The number of cycles per unit time. Simple Harmonic Motion If the motion of an object is a perfect single sinusoidal function, we term the motion ”simple harmonic”. Let’s review the mathematics of simple trig functions. We need just three parameters to describe any single sinusoid