SHM Maximum Acceleration
Worked example: 10 cm amplitude at 10 rad/s → 10 m/s². Press Try an example to run it live, then adjust anything.
Enter your known values, leave one input blank, and solves for the missing one. Tap a variable’s symbol to see what it means, with a typical value. Change any unit and the answer follows.
Where SHM Maximum Acceleration fits
- Simple harmonic motion7 formulas
See also
SHM Displacement at Time t: Both use vibration amplitude and angular frequency.SHM Maximum Velocity: Both use vibration amplitude and angular frequency.Angular Frequency (ω = 2πf): Both use angular frequency.SHM Maximum Acceleration explained
Acceleration in simple harmonic motion peaks at the turning points, where displacement, and therefore the restoring force, is greatest: . The squared frequency is what makes high-frequency vibration so destructive. A 10 cm amplitude at 10 rad/s gives 10 m/s², about 1 g; keep the amplitude and raise ω to 100 rad/s and you get 1000 m/s², over 100 g.
This is why vibration specifications for electronics, aircraft components and shipping crates are quoted in g's over a frequency band rather than in millimetres of travel, and why a 5 cm amplitude shaker table running at about 19.8 rad/s already delivers 2 g. Loudspeaker cones face the same limit: at 20 kHz the excursion must fall to microns or the cone would tear itself apart. Note that , so the three SHM peak quantities chain together through a single factor of ω each time you differentiate.
SHM Maximum Acceleration formula
- = Maximum acceleration (m/s²)
- = Amplitude (m)
- = Angular frequency (rad/s)
Cite this page
formula.expert. (2026, October 16). SHM Maximum Acceleration Formula & Calculator. https://formula.expert/solvers/shm-maximum-acceleration