STPM PHYSICS VOLUME 1

CHAPTER 9

Chapter 9: Oscillations 9.1 Free oscillations 1. An oscillating system is said to perform free oscillations when no energy is lost from the oscillating system. 2. The system will continue to oscillate indefinitely with constant amplitude and constant period.

9.2

Damped oscillations 1. A damped oscillation is one where energy is dissipated from the system. The amplitude of the oscillation will decreases with time. 2. The damping effect may be a. under damped b. critically damped c. over damped 3. Under damped: a. A system undergoing oscillation is under damped if the resistance force acting on it is small so that the system can still continue to execute several oscillations before its motion ceases. b. The amplitude of damped oscillation decreases with time, until the oscillation stops.

PREPARED BY MR HC WONG

STPM PHYSICS VOLUME 1

CHAPTER 9

4. Critically damped: a. The motion of a system is critically damped if the resistance force is of such a magnitude that the motion comes to a stop in the shortest time possible without undergoing oscillation at all.

5. Over damped: a. No oscillations occur and the system returns very slowly to its equilibrium position.

6. Damping causes: a. the amplitude to decrease with time b. energy of the system to be dissipated to the surrounding 7. Damping is often applied to oscillating system deliberately. Critical damping is applied to the car suspension systems so that the vibration of the suspension springs will not occur when a car goes over a bump. Instruments such as electrical meters are critically damped so that the pointer moves to the correct position without oscillating.

PREPARED BY MR HC WONG

STPM PHYSICS VOLUME 1

CHAPTER 9

9.3

Forced oscillations 1. An oscillatory system can be forced to oscillate with a frequency other than its natural frequency by an external periodic force. 2. The frequency of a forced oscillate is the same as the frequency of the external driving force.

9.4

Resonance and damping 1. Objects can be forced to oscillate at any frequency but if the driving frequency is the same as the natural frequency, the amplitude will become higher and higher. Energy is transferred from the driver to the oscillating system effectively. This condition is called resonance. 2. Since damping absorbs energy, the amplitude of oscillations also depends on the extent to which the system is damped. The graph below shows how the amount of damping affects the resonance peak.

3. Notice that as the damping increases: a. The amplitude of the resonance peak decreases. b. The resonance frequency is lower than the natural frequency (the peak shifted to the left).

PREPARED BY MR HC WONG