Past exam of the physics 1 paper of the University of Oxford / 2014 resit / 5 / Solution

Measure the vertical displacement $x$ downward from the spring's unstretched position. The kinetic energy is $m{\dot{x}}^2/2$, while the spring and gravitational potential energies are $k{x}^2/2$ and $-mgx$. Thus the Lagrangian isApplying the Euler-Lagrange equation, $d(\partial \mathcal{L}/\partial \dot{x})/dt-\partial \mathcal{L}/\partial x=0$, givesGravity shifts the equilibrium to $x_{\ast }=mg/k$. For displacement $\xi =x-x_{\ast }$ from that equilibrium, the equation of motion becomes $\ddot{\xi }+(k/m)\xi =0$, giving simple harmonic motion with angular frequency $\omega =\sqrt{k/m}$. Choosing an upward coordinate instead reverses the gravitational term, but leaves the equilibrium-relative angular frequency unchanged.