PHY-401

Waves and Oscillations

BS Physics
4th Semester

Dr. Ejaz Ahmed

Department of Physics
Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan
 Lecture 7: Topics to be Covered

1. Damped Harmonic Motion

2. Equation of Damped Harmonic Motion

 Damped Harmonic Motion

Up to this point we have assumed that no frictional forces act on the oscillator. If this
assumption held strictly, a pendulum or a mass on a spring would oscillate indefinitely
with a constant mechanical energy (that is, with no loss in the amplitude of the
oscillation).

Since we observe a loss in amplitude for real oscillators, we know that this assumption is
not strictly true, although it may be a good approximation for some oscillators.

This loss in amplitude is called damping and the motion is called damped harmonic
motion. There are many causes of damping, including friction, air resistance, and
internal forces.
 Damped Harmonic Motion
In the given figure, we compares the motion of undamped and
damped oscillators. When we add a small damping force, the
frequency changes by a negligible amount but the amplitude
gradually decreases to zero.
In many cases this decrease in amplitude can be accounted for by
multiplying the equation for the undamped oscillator by an
exponential function that describes the dashed curves in given
figure.
−𝒕ൗ𝝉
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒙𝒎 𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒕 + 𝝓 ----- (1)

where 𝝉, is called the damping time constant or the mean lifetime

Figure: (a) Undamped oscillation,
of the oscillation. Mathematically, it is the time necessary for the drawn for a phase constant 𝝓 of zero.
amplitude to drop to 𝟏Τ𝐞 = 𝟎. 𝟑𝟔𝟖 of its initial value, as shown in (b) Damped oscillation with the same
figure (b). frequency as (a).
 Damped Harmonic Motion
One common type of retarding force is the one, where the
force is proportional to the speed of the moving object and acts
in the direction opposite the motion. This retarding force is
often observed when an object moves through air. Because the
retarding force can be expressed as 𝑹 = −𝜷𝒗.
Figure: A representation of a damped
Where 𝜷 is a constant called the damping coefficient or
harmonic oscillator. We consider the
damping constant that depends on the properties of the fluid oscillating body (of mass m) to be
and the size and shape of the vane that is immersed in the fluid attached to a (massless) vane immersed
and the restoring force of the system is −𝒌𝒙. in a fluid, in which it experiences a
viscous damping force −𝒃𝒗𝒙 . We do
To solve the equation of motion of this system, we have not consider sliding friction at the
horizontal surface.
෍ 𝑭𝒙 = 𝒎𝒂 = −𝒌𝒙 − 𝒃𝒗

𝒎𝒙ሷ + 𝜷𝒙ሶ + 𝒌𝒙 = 𝟎
 Solution of Damped Harmonic Oscillator Equation
෍ 𝐹Ԧ = 𝑚𝑎Ԧ

𝐹Ԧ𝑆 𝑛𝑒𝑡 + 𝐹Ԧ𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑝 = 𝑚𝑎Ԧ

𝑭𝑺 = −𝒌𝒙
𝑭𝑺
𝐹Ԧ𝑆 + 𝐹Ԧ𝑑 = 𝑚𝑎Ԧ and
−𝑘𝑥 + −𝛽𝑣 = 𝑚𝑎Ԧ 𝑭𝒅 = −𝜷 𝒗
𝑭𝒅
𝒎𝒙ሷ + 𝜷𝒙ሶ + 𝒌𝒙 = 𝟎
Dividing both sides by mass
𝜷 𝒌
𝒙ሷ + ሶ𝒙 + 𝒙 = 𝟎
𝒎 𝒎
𝒌 𝜷
𝒙ሷ + 𝟐𝜸 𝒙ሶ + 𝝎𝟐 𝒙=𝟎 𝝎=
𝒌
𝜸=
𝒎 Where, 𝒎 and 𝟐𝒎
 Solution of Damped Harmonic Oscillator Equation
𝒌
𝒙ሷ + 𝟐𝜸 𝒙ሶ + 𝝎𝟐 𝒙=𝟎
𝒎
This is a characteristic differential equation, the solution of which is

𝒙 = 𝒆𝝀𝒕

𝒙ሶ = 𝝀 𝒆𝝀𝒕
𝒙ሷ = 𝝀𝟐 𝒆𝝀𝒕

𝝀𝟐 𝒆𝝀𝒕 + 𝟐𝜸𝝀 𝒆𝝀𝒕 + 𝝎𝟐 𝒆𝝀𝒕 = 𝟎

𝝀𝟐 + 𝟐𝜸 𝝀 + 𝝎𝟐 = 𝟎
This is a quadratic equation, and its solution is

−2𝛾 ± 4𝛾 2 − 4𝜔 2
𝜆± =
2 1
 Solution of Damped Harmonic Oscillator Equation

−2𝛾 ± 4𝛾 2 − 4𝜔 2
𝜆± =
2 1
𝜆± = −𝛾 ± 𝛾 2 − 𝜔 2 𝑭𝑺

𝜆± = −𝛾 ± 𝑖 𝜔 2 − 𝛾 2

The quadratic equation has two roots 𝑭𝒅

𝝀+ = −𝜸 + 𝒊 𝝎𝟐 − 𝜸𝟐 and 𝝀− = −𝜸 − 𝒊 𝝎𝟐 − 𝜸𝟐

𝒙 = 𝒆𝝀𝒕
For differential equations, if we have two or more than two solutions than their linear combination is its
general solution 𝟐 𝟐 𝟐 𝟐
−𝜸+𝒊 𝝎 −𝜸 𝒕 −𝜸−𝒊 𝝎 −𝜸 𝒕
𝒙=𝒂𝒆 +𝒃𝒆
Where a and b are constants, and its values can be calculated with initial conditions
 Solution of Damped Harmonic Oscillator Equation
We can take out this general solution

−𝛾+𝑖 𝜔2 −𝛾 2 𝑡 −𝛾−𝑖 𝜔2 −𝛾 2 𝑡
𝑥=𝑎𝑒 +𝑏𝑒

Factor out 𝒆−𝜸𝒕

−𝛾𝑡 𝑖 𝜔2 −𝛾 2 𝑡 −𝑖 𝜔2 −𝛾2 𝑡
𝑥=𝑒 𝑎𝑒 +𝑏𝑒

Combine exponential terms and the Amplitude A results, using

the relation
𝑒 𝑖𝜃 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 + 𝑖 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

𝑥 𝑡 = 𝐴 𝑒 −𝛾𝑡 cos 𝜔2 − 𝛾 2 𝑡 + 𝜙
Define the damping frequency 𝝎′ = 𝝎𝟐 − 𝜸𝟐

𝒙 𝒕 = 𝑨 𝒆−𝜸𝒕 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝝎′ 𝒕 + 𝝓
 Damped Harmonic Motion

𝒎𝒙ሷ + 𝒃𝒙ሶ + 𝒌𝒙 = 𝟎
The solution to this equation, which you can verify by direct substitution is

−𝒃𝒕ൗ𝟐𝒎
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒙𝒎 𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎′ 𝒕 + 𝝓 ----- (2)

𝟐 𝒕ൗ
𝒌 𝒃 𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒙𝒎 −
𝒆 𝝉 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒕 + 𝝓 ----- (1)
where 𝝎′ = −
𝒎 𝟐𝒎
This solution assumes that the damping constant is small, so that the quantity under the square root of 𝝎′
cannot be negative.
Note that Eq. (2) has the same form as Eq. (1), with the lifetime , 𝝉 = 𝟐𝒎Τ𝒃.
➢ The greater is the damping constant b, the more quickly the amplitude of the oscillation dies out.
➢ As b approaches zero (corresponding to no damping), then 𝝉, is infinite and the amplitude remains
constant.
 Damped Harmonic Motion
When damping is present, the oscillation frequency is smaller (the period is larger). That is, damping slows
down the motion, as we might expect.

𝒌
If 𝒃 = 𝟎 (no damping, then 𝝎′ = , which is simply the angular frequency 𝝎𝒐 of the undamped motion.
𝒎

When damping is present, 𝝎′ is slightly less than 𝝎𝒐 , but in most cases of interest, the damping is sufficiently

weak that 𝝎′ ≈ 𝝎𝒐 .

𝒌 𝒃 𝟐
In the special case in which 𝒃 = 𝟐 𝒌𝒎 in the equation 𝝎′ = − gives 𝝎′ = 𝟎, so the
𝒎 𝟐𝒎
motion decays exponentially to zero with no oscillation at all. In this case the lifetime 𝝉 has its smallest possible
value, 𝟏Τ𝝎 . This condition, called critical damping, is often the goal of mechanical engineers in designing
systems in which unwanted and often harmful oscillations can be made to disappear in the shortest possible
time. 𝒕ൗ
−
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒙𝒎 𝒆 𝝉 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝝎𝒕 + 𝝓
 Damped Harmonic Motion
𝟐
𝒌 𝒃
𝝎′ = −
𝟐 𝒎 𝟐𝒎
𝒃
𝝎′ = 𝟐
𝝎𝒐 −
𝟐𝒎

We have three possibilities;

𝟐
𝟐
𝒃
𝒂 . 𝝎𝒐 − >𝟎 Under Damped
𝟐𝒎
Figure: Graphs of displacement
𝟐
versus time for (a) an
𝒃 underdamped oscillator, (b) a
𝟐
𝒃 . 𝝎𝒐 − =𝟎 Critical Damped
𝟐𝒎 critically damped oscillator, and
(c) an overdamped oscillator.
𝟐
𝒃
𝟐
𝒄 . 𝝎𝒐 − <𝟎 Over Damped
𝟐𝒎
 𝟐
𝒃
𝒂 . Under Damped 𝝎𝟐𝒐 − =𝟎
𝟐𝒎

A simple pendulum that comes to a steady state (equilibrium

point) after some finite time.
The oscillation of the same pendulum in vacuum becomes an
undamped system since the system keeps on oscillating between
the two maxima points and does not settle.
Car shocks are a prime location to start.

Un-damped, the damper is broken. You go over a bump and you

bounce 8 or more times as you go down the road almost loose
control have stop till the bouncing stops.
 𝟐
𝒃
𝒃 . Critical Damped 𝝎𝟐𝒐 − >𝟎
𝟐𝒎

Critically damped: Ah, just right. You hit the bump and
you barely feel it. The shock absorbs all the impact and
then extends back out just right
 𝒃 𝟐
𝒄 . Over Damped 𝝎𝟐𝒐 − <𝟎
𝟐𝒎

Automatic Door Close System

 Video Lectures to Watch

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgTQO2LqxaM (Introduction to Exponential Decay (Damped

Oscillations)

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtkwsWZnp5o (Solution of Damped Harmonic Oscillators

equation)

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxDvW8_fm7I (Damping and Damped Harmonic Motion)

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6wAgtvX_8w (Damping of Simple Harmonic Motion)