How many normal modes of oscillation or natural frequencies does each if the following have: (
a. a simple pendulum (
b. a clothes line (
c. a mass oscillating on a spring?

Each of these systems has exactly one degree of freedom and hence only one natural frequency obtained by solving the differential equation describing the respective motions. For the case of the simple pendulum of length L the governing differential equation is d^2x/dt^2 = - gx/L with the natural frequency f = 1/(2π) √(g/L). For the mass-spring system the governing differential equation is m d^2x/dt^2 = - kx (k is the spring constant) with the natural frequency ω = √(k/m). Note that the normal modes are also called resonant modes; the Wikipedia article below solves the problem for a system of two masses and two springs to obtain two normal modes of oscillation.