Question

A wooden block performs shm on a frictionless surface with frequency, v 0 . The block carries a charge + q on its surface. If now a uniform electrical eld e is switched on as shown, then the shm of the block will be

Answer 1

When the uniform electric field is switched on, the positively charged block experiences a constant force in the direction of the electric field and so the mean position of the block is shifted. But the frequency (ν) of oscillation of the block is unchanged since it depends only on the mass m of the block and the force constant k of the spring, in accordance with the relation

ν = (1/2π) [√(k/m)]