4/12/24, 6:25 PM Angular frequency - Wikipedia

Angular frequency
In physics, angular frequency (symbol ω), also called angular
Angular frequency
speed and angular rate, is a scalar measure of the angle rate
(the angle per unit time) or the temporal rate of change of the
phase argument of a sinusoidal waveform or sine function (for
example, in oscillations and waves). Angular frequency (or
angular speed) is the magnitude of the pseudovector quantity
angular velocity.[1]

Angular frequency can be obtained multiplying rotational

frequency, ν (or ordinary frequency, f) by a full turn (2π radians):
ω=2π rad ⋅ ν. It can also be formulated as ω=dθ/dt, the
instantaneous rate of change of the angular displacement, θ, with
respect to time, t.[2][3]

Units
In SI units, angular frequency is normally presented in radians Angular speed ω (in radians per
per second, even when it does not express a rotational value. The second), is greater than rotational
unit hertz (Hz) is dimensionally equivalent, but by convention it is frequency ν (in Hz), by a factor of
2 π.
only used for frequency f, never for angular frequency ω. This
convention is used to help avoid the confusion[4] that arises when Other names angular speed,
dealing with quantities such as frequency and angular quantities angular rate
because the units of measure (such as cycle or radian) are Common ω
considered to be one and hence may be omitted when expressing symbols

quantities in SI units.[5][6] SI unit radians per

second (rad/s)
In digital signal processing, the frequency may be normalized by
Other units degrees per
the sampling rate, yielding the normalized frequency. second (°/s)
In SI base s-1
Examples units
Derivations ω=2π rad ⋅ ν,
from ω=dθ/dt
Circular motion other
In a rotating or orbiting object, there is a relation between quantities
distance from the axis, , tangential speed, , and the angular Dimension
frequency of the rotation. During one period, , a body in circular
motion travels a distance . This distance is also equal to the circumference of the path traced out by
the body, . Setting these two quantities equal, and recalling the link between period and angular
frequency we obtain: Circular motion on the unit circle is given by

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where:

ω is the angular frequency (unit: radians per second),

T is the period (unit: seconds),
A sphere
f is the ordinary frequency (unit: hertz).
rotating around
an axis. Points
farther from the
Oscillations of a spring
axis move
An object attached to a spring can oscillate. If the spring is assumed to be ideal and faster, satisfying
massless with no damping, then the motion is simple and harmonic with an ω = v / r.
angular frequency given by[7]

where

k is the spring constant,

m is the mass of the object.
ω is referred to as the natural angular frequency (sometimes be denoted as ω0).

As the object oscillates, its acceleration can be calculated by

where x is displacement from an equilibrium position.

Using standard frequency f, this equation would be

LC circuits
The resonant angular frequency in a series LC circuit equals the square root of the reciprocal of the
product of the capacitance (C, with SI unit farad) and the inductance of the circuit (L, with SI unit
henry):[8]

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Adding series resistance (for example, due to the resistance of the wire in a coil) does not change the
resonant frequency of the series LC circuit. For a parallel tuned circuit, the above equation is often a
useful approximation, but the resonant frequency does depend on the losses of parallel elements.

Terminology
Although angular frequency is often loosely referred to as frequency, it differs from frequency by a
factor of 2π, which potentially leads confusion when the distinction is not clear.

See also
Cycle per second
Radian per second
Degree (angle)
Mean motion
Orders of magnitude (angular velocity)
Rotational frequency
Simple harmonic motion

References and notes

1. Cummings, Karen; Halliday, David (2007). Understanding physics (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=rAfF_X9cE0EC). New Delhi: John Wiley & Sons, authorized reprint to Wiley – India. pp. 449,
484, 485, 487. ISBN 978-81-265-0882-2.(UP1)
2. "ISO 80000-3:2019 Quantities and units — Part 3: Space and time" (https://www.iso.org/standard/
64974.html) (2 ed.). International Organization for Standardization. 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
[1] (https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:80000:-3:ed-2:v1:en) (11 pages)
3. Holzner, Steven (2006). Physics for Dummies (https://archive.org/details/physicsfordummie00hol
z). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Publishing. pp. 201 (https://archive.org/details/physicsfordummie
00holz/page/201). ISBN 978-0-7645-5433-9. "angular frequency."
4. Lerner, Lawrence S. (1996-01-01). Physics for scientists and engineers (https://books.google.co
m/books?id=eJhkD0LKtJEC&pg=PA145). p. 145. ISBN 978-0-86720-479-7.
5. Mohr, J. C.; Phillips, W. D. (2015). "Dimensionless Units in the SI". Metrologia. 52 (1): 40–47.
arXiv:1409.2794 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1409.2794). Bibcode:2015Metro..52...40M (https://ui.adsab
s.harvard.edu/abs/2015Metro..52...40M). doi:10.1088/0026-1394/52/1/40 (https://doi.org/10.108
8%2F0026-1394%2F52%2F1%2F40). S2CID 3328342 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:
3328342).
6. "SI units need reform to avoid confusion" (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F548135b). Editorial. Nature.
548 (7666): 135. 7 August 2011. doi:10.1038/548135b (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F548135b).
PMID 28796224 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28796224).
7. Serway, Raymond A.; Jewett, John W. (2006). Principles of physics (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=1DZz341Pp50C&q=angular+frequency&pg=PA376) (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Brooks / Cole –
Thomson Learning. pp. 375, 376, 385, 397. ISBN 978-0-534-46479-0.
8. Nahvi, Mahmood; Edminister, Joseph (2003). Schaum's outline of theory and problems of electric
circuits (https://books.google.com/books?id=nrxT9Qjguk8C&q=angular+frequency&pg=PA103).
McGraw-Hill Companies (McGraw-Hill Professional). pp. 214, 216. ISBN 0-07-139307-2. (LC1)
Related Reading:
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Olenick, Richard P.; Apostol, Tom M.; Goodstein, David L. (2007). The Mechanical Universe (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=xMWwTpn53KsC&q=angular+frequency&pg=RA1-PA383). New
York City: Cambridge University Press. pp. 383–385, 391–395. ISBN 978-0-521-71592-8.

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