Physics · Glossary

What is Damped oscillations?

Also known as: damping · pseudo-period

Definition 28.12 High School Physics · Chapter 28 — Mechanical Oscillators and the Measurement of Time

Friction drains mechanical energy from every real oscillator: its free oscillations are damped. Under light damping the system still oscillates, with a dying amplitude but a nearly unchanged repeat time, the pseudo-period, close to T0T_0; under heavy damping (honey) it creeps back to equilibrium without ever overshooting; the energy, proportional to amplitude squared, decays into heat.

Undamped and lightly damped oscillations: nearly the same period (2.0\, s here), the damped amplitude dying inside a shrinking exponential envelope (dashed).
Undamped and lightly damped oscillations: nearly the same period (2.0s2.0\,\mathrm{s} here), the damped amplitude dying inside a shrinking exponential envelope (dashed).
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