Convince yourself that the argument presented in the solution to Example 15.5 is also valid for displacements of the block above \(x_{\mathrm{eq}}\).

Data from Example 15.5

A block of mass \(m=0.50 \mathrm{~kg}\) is suspended from a spring of spring constant \(k=100 \mathrm{~N} / \mathrm{m}\). (a) How far below the end of the relaxed spring at \(x_{0}\) is the equilibrium position \(x_{\text {eq }}\) of the suspended block (Figure 15.29a)? (b) Is the frequency \(f\) with which the block oscillates about this equilibrium position \(x_{\text {eq }}\) greater than, smaller than, or equal to that of an identical system that oscillates horizontally about \(x_{0}\) on a surface for which friction can be ignored (Figure 15.29b)?

Figure 15.29 Example 15.5. (a) I Xen (b) www