LGB 10802 / PHYSICS CHAPTER 5 OSCILLATIONS

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CHAPTER 5 OSCILLATIONS

A. Free oscillations
A free oscillations is undisturbed by external forces, and vibrates at its natural frequency.
Examples of free oscillation
- Simple pendulum
The natural frequency f of a simple pendulum is given by
f=

l= length of the pendulum, g = acceleration due to gravity

- Spring-mass system
The natural frequency f of a spring-mass system is given by
f=

k= force constant, m= mass of load
The graph of the displacement x of a free oscillation against t time (t) is shown in figure
below. No energy is lost from the system and the amplitude of oscillation x
0
is constant.











The total energy, E =

is conserved


B. Characteristics of damped oscillation
In damped oscillation, the amplitude of the oscillation decreases and the system finally
stops oscillating. Energy is lost from the oscillatory system.







Time,
t
Displacement,
x
x
0

-x
0

0
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There are three types of damping
- Under Damping
- Critical Damping
- Over Damping


C. Description of under damping, critical damping and over damping

Under Damping Critical Damping Over Damping
The amplitude of a simple
pendulum decreases slowly
due to air resistance.
Occurs when the damping is
just sufficient to prevent
oscillation and not too large
to delay the return to the
equilibrium position.
The resistance to motion is
so large that after being
displaced, the system takes
a very long to return to its
equilibrium position.
The system comes to a stop
in a short time.

Ex: Ex: Ex:


















The amplitude of the oscillation decreases exponentially with time
The energy of the system also decreases exponentially with time
External damping Internal damping
-energy is lost due to external resistive
forces such as friction.
-energy is lost due to the dissipation of heat
from the system.
-energy of the system is used to do work
against external resistive forces such as
friction and air resistance.
-in spring-mass system, heat is produced in
the spring when it is stretched and
compressed repeatedly. Energy of the
system is lost in the form of heat dissipated.
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The period of oscillation is greater than the period in free oscillation.

D. Driven Oscillations
Forced oscillation is the oscillation produced by a periodic external force known as the
driving force.
The frequency of the forced oscillation equals the frequency of the driving force.
The amplitude of a forced oscillation varies with the frequency of the external driving force.


E. Resonance phenomenon and damping in oscillations
The amplitude of the forced oscillation is maximum when the driving frequency equals the
natural frequency f
o
of the driven pendulum. The curve is sharp when f = f
o

The sharpness of the resonance depends on the damping. When the damping is light, the
sharpness of resonance increases. This means that the amplitude increases sharply for a
narrow range of values around f
o
.
When the damping is increased, the sharpness of resonance decreases. The amplitude
increases slowly to the maximum. The peak of the curve shiffts to the left.
When there is no damping, the amplitude of the forced oscillation is large and could not be
included in the graph.
Resonance is said to occur when the amplitude of the forced oscillation is maximum. The
condition for resonance is that the driving frequency must equal the natural frequency of
the driven system.