The answer is that there is a very close relationship between simple harmonic motion and circular motion with constant speed, as Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\) illustrates: as the point P rotates with const...The answer is that there is a very close relationship between simple harmonic motion and circular motion with constant speed, as Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\) illustrates: as the point P rotates with constant angular velocity \(\omega\), its projection onto the \(x\) axis (the red dot in the figure) performs simple harmonic motion with angular frequency \(\omega\) (and amplitude \(R\)). (Of course, there is nothing special about the \(x\) axis; the projection on any other axis will also perform simp…
