AL-Physics/Mechanics/Damped & Forced Oscillations

K.W.LAM

DAMPED & FORCED OSCILLATIONS

1. Da m p e d Oscillatio n
If a system performs S.H.M. by itself, the motion will be damped out because of air resistance, etc. Damping (resistive) force arise from air will cause 1. amplitude gradually decreases to ero! ". energy is gradually lost to surrounding air. It is not a perfect S.H.M. #amping force is always 1. opposite to v ". directly proportional to v $y using %ewton&s second law, ma = kx bv

1.1 Types of Da m p e d Oscillatio n

(A) Und a m p e d Oscill a ti o n

called free oscillation e'uivalent to S.H.M. neglecting the air resistance (i.e. no damping force)

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AL-Physics/Mechanics/Damped & Forced Oscillations

K.W.LAM
(B) Slig h t l y Dam p e d Os cilla ti o n

or (under-damped oscillation amplitude decreasing (C) Hea v il y Dam p e d Motio n

or strongly damped motion )he system returns slowly to the equilibrium position. NO oscillation (D) Critic all y Dam p e d Moti o n

NO oscillation occurs. )ime for the displacement to become zero is a minimum . #isplacement drops to zero but never becomes negative.

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K.W.LAM 1.2 Uses of Critically Da m p e d Motio n

*ritically damping is useful in many devices+ e.g. 1. )he moving coil in an ammeter is critically damped )he pointer will come to rest quickly to the e,act position without oscillating. (#amping force comes from the air resistance and eddy current.) ". )he suspension springs of a car are fitting with shoc- absorbers to reduce the up and down motion of a car on an uneven road.

2. Forced Vibratio n and Res o n a n c e

If the vibration of an oscillator is kept up by applying an external periodic driving force, it is called a !orced "ibration (or !orced Oscillation). *onsider a pendulum or a loaded spring driven by an e,ternal force periodically.

Natural angular frequency of the system . o where o .

k m 1 2
k m

and natural frequency fo .

Driving angular frequency . by hand and driving frequency f

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K.W.LAM
)he nature of the motion is as follows+ #$% /hen the driving frequency is smaller than the natural frequency, i.e. f << fo (or << o), 0mplitude of oscillation small 111111111 when the driving fre'uency increases. 2ibration is in phase with the driving force 0s driving fre'uency increases, phase difference 11111111111. &mall amount of energy is transferred from the driving force to system. #'% /hen the driving frequency is equal to the natural frequency, i.e. f = fo (or = o) RESO A CE 0mplitude very large (ma,imum value) 2ibration lags behind the driving force by one quarter of cycle (i.e. phase difference . 3" or 45o). Energy transferred from the driving force to system is maximum . (esonance occurs. (esonance occurs when a body is acted upon by a periodic driving force whose frequency equals the natural frequency of the system. Note 1. )he driving fre'uency at resonance is also -nown as resonant frequency. ". 0 system may have more than one resonant fre'uency.

#)% /hen the driving frequency is larger than the natural frequency, i.e. f >> fo (or >> o), 0mplitude small 111111111 when the driving fre'uency increases. 2ibration and driving force are out of phase by half cycle (i.e. phase difference . or 165o). as driving fre'uency increases, phase difference 11111111111 and get closer to 1111111111111 &mall amount of energy is transferred from the driving force to system

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K.W.LAM
)he graphs of !amplit"de against driving #re$"ency% and !phase di##erence against driving ang"lar #re$"ency% are as follows+

Ma,imum amplitude is attained when resonance occurs at f * fo. )he degree of damping will affect the sharpness of the resonance. "elated AL #$erstions %AL/&3/3'a()* %AL/&+/2'a()

E&p eri m e n t ' Bart o n % s (en d " l " m

0n e,periment to demonstrate (forced vibration& )he driver pendulum is pulled well aside and released so that it oscillates in a plane perpendicular to that of the paper. 7bservation is made when the motion is settled down after a short time.
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K.W.LAM
O) s e r v a t i o n s

0ll pendulums oscillate with nearly the same frequency as the driver but with different amplitudes.

#$% 8or pendulums shorter than that of driver 0mplitude is 111111111111 than that of the driver 9endulum and driver are 1111 111111111111 . +xplanation, %atural fre'uency of pendulum, f* .
$ 'g l

If the length is shorter than that of driver, #riving fre'uency f is 111111111111 than natural fre'uency f* of pendulum, i.e. f 1111111 f* 0mount of energy transferred from driver to pendulum is 1111111111111 . #'% 8or pendulums equals in length to that of driver 0mplitude is 111111111111 9endulum 1111111111 driver by a phase angle of 111111111111 . +xplanation, %atural fre'uency of pendulum, f. .
$ 'g l

If the length is e'ual that of driver, #riving fre'uency f is 111111111111 to natural fre'uency f. of pendulum, i.e. f 1111111 f. In this case, 1111111111111 occurs. 0mount of energy transferred from driver to pendulum is 1111111111111 . #)% 8or pendulums longer than that of driver 0mplitude is 111111111111 than that of the driver 9endulum and driver are 1111111111 out of phase.

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K.W.LAM
+xplanation, %atural fre'uency of pendulum, f* .
$ 'g l

If the length is longer than that of driver, #riving fre'uency f is 111111111111 than natural fre'uency f* of pendulum, i.e. f 1111111 f* 0mount of energy transferred from driver to pendulum is 1111111111111 . Q: How can the effect of damping be increased: A: 111111111111 are removed from the paper cone pendulums. )heir masses are reduced and so the effect of damping is increased. It is because the effect due to 1111111 111111111111 is more important.

E&a mp l e s o# Res o n a n c e
;esonance is generally useful in science but sometimes may cause serious damage. Some e,amples of resonance are+ (+) Mec h a n i c a l re s o n a n c e 0 large amplitude oscillation will cause destruction in many structures such as bridges and aircraft. 8or e,ample, destruction of )acoma %arrows bridge in <.S.0. in 14=5 by wind>induced oscillation. (,) Aco " s t i c re s o n a n c e /roduction of musical sound by resonance between the air columns and the musical instruments (-) Elec tric a l re s o n a n c e 0uning of radio by resonance between the radio signal and the ?;* circuit "elated AL #$erstions %AL/&+/2'c()

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