what is difference between simple harmonic motion and oscillatory motion?

Dear student,

The word oscillatory refers to something that moves back and forth repeatedly. The word periodic refers to something that repeats after a regular amount of time.

While oscillatory motion will almost certainly be periodic, not all periodic motion will be oscillatory.

A common example is the orbit of the earth around the sun. A complete orbit takes roughly 365 days and therefore this is a periodic motion. However, cannot be said to be oscillatory.

It may help to think of oscillatory motion as a certain type of periodic motion, much as a square is a certain type of rectangle.

Please feel free to ask your queries here. We are all IITians and here to help you in your IIT JEE preparation.

All the best.

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