Damped & Forced Oscillations
Explore how damping and driving forces lead to resonance.
The Concepts
• Damping: A force (like friction) that removes energy from an oscillating system, causing its amplitude to decay over time.
• Forced Oscillation: An oscillation maintained by an external periodic driving force.
• Resonance: A dramatic increase in amplitude that occurs when the driving frequency matches the system's natural frequency ($ \omega_d \approx \omega_0 $).
How to Use the Lab
- Press Start to see the mass oscillate.
- Adjust the Damping to see the oscillation decay.
- Turn on the Driving Force and adjust its frequency.
- Try to match the Driving Frequency to the system's natural frequency to see resonance in action!
Resonance Curve
Amplitude vs. Driving Frequency