In the real world, unless they are specifically prepared to be otherwise, all oscillations are under damped. Consequently it would prove useful to define a specific quantity which determines the …

Let's use a mass-spring system to build an equation of motion for damped oscillation. Recall we can build equations of motion by applying Newton's 2nd law. To do this for the spring-mass …

Damped Oscillations Purpose To explore the dynamics of damped harmonic motion using a mass-spring oscillator

In this module we add damping, or ki-netic energy dissipation, to the case of simple harmonic motion. This is important because such dissipation is always present in real mechanical …

Examples: water waves, sound waves, and seismic waves. Electromagnec waves: These waves require no material medium to exist. Light waves from stars, for example, travel through the …

If the vibration is damped, the amplitude of the vibration will approach zero as time progresses. For example, a child swinging on a playground swing will eventually return to her original rest …

The motion is called damped if c > 0 and undamped if c = 0. If there is no external force, f (t) = 0, then the motion is called free or unforced and otherwise it is called forced.