PROBLEM 14.2: "If an object on a horizontal frictionless surface is attached to a spring, displaced, and then released, it will oscillate. The object is displaced a distance 0.120 m from its equilibrium position and released with zero initial speed. Then after a time 0.800 s, its displacement is found to be a distance 0.120 m on the opposite side, and it has passed the equilibrium position once during this interval. a) Find the amplitude. b) Find the period. c) Find the frequency."

Is a  vector quantity  that refers to "the rate at which an object changes its position." imagine a person moving rapidly - one step forward and one step back - always returning to the original starting position. while this might result in a frenzy of activity, it would result in a zero velocity. because the person always returns to the original position, the motion would never result in a change in position. since velocity is defined as the rate at which the position changes, this motion results in zero velocity. if a person in motion wishes to maximize their velocity, then that person must make every effort to maximize the amount that they are displaced from their original position. every step must go into moving that person further from where he or she started. for certain, the person should never change directions and begin to return to the starting position.