Calculating Frequency of Oscillation for Different Masses on a Spring

[endeavor]

"A 0.25kg mass on a vertical spring oscillates with a frequency of 1.0 Hz. Suppose a 0.50kg mass were instead suspended from the same spring. What would be the frequency of oscillation in this case?"

This is what I did:
[tex]\frac{f_{1}}{f_{2}} = \frac {\sqrt{\frac{k}{m_{1}}}}{\sqrt{\frac{k}{m_{2}}}}[/tex]
[tex]\frac{f_{1}}{f_{2}} = \sqrt{\frac{m_{2}}{m_{1}}}[/tex]
[tex]f_{2} = \frac{1}{4} f_{1}[/tex]
[tex]f_{2} = 0.25 Hz[/tex]
however, the answer is 0.71 Hz. What did I do wrong?

 

[quantumdude]

You got the ratio [itex]m_2/m_1[/itex] wrong. The ratio is 2, which means that [itex]\sqrt{m_2/m_1}=\sqrt{2}[/itex], but you have 4.

So in short I think you squared the 2 when you should have taken the square root.

 

[endeavor]

You are absolutely correct! I didn't realize I did that. Thanks for the prompt reply!