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Angular frequency - Wikipedia

Angular frequency (ω) is a measure of the rate of change of the phase of a sinusoidal waveform, expressed in radians per second. It is related to ordinary frequency (ν) by the formula ω = 2πν and is crucial in various physical contexts such as circular motion, oscillations, and electrical circuits. The distinction between angular frequency and ordinary frequency is important, as they differ by a factor of 2π.

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8 views

Angular frequency - Wikipedia

Angular frequency (ω) is a measure of the rate of change of the phase of a sinusoidal waveform, expressed in radians per second. It is related to ordinary frequency (ν) by the formula ω = 2πν and is crucial in various physical contexts such as circular motion, oscillations, and electrical circuits. The distinction between angular frequency and ordinary frequency is important, as they differ by a factor of 2π.

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jason.yingjie.zang
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Angular frequency

In physics, angular frequency (symbol ω), also


called angular speed and angular rate, is a Angular frequency
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]
Angular speed ω is greater than rotational
frequency ν by a factor of 2π.
Unit Other names angular speed, angular
rate
In SI units, angular frequency is normally
Common ω
presented in the unit radian per second. The unit symbols
hertz (Hz) is dimensionally equivalent, but by
SI unit radian per second (rad/s)
convention it is only used for frequency f, never
for angular frequency ω. This convention is used Other units degrees per second (°/s)
to help avoid the confusion[4] that arises when In SI base units s−1
dealing with quantities such as frequency and Derivations from ω=2π rad ⋅ ν, ω=dθ/dt
angular quantities because the units of measure other quantities
(such as cycle or radian) are considered to be one Dimension
and hence may be omitted when expressing
quantities in terms of SI units.[5][6]

In digital signal processing, the frequency may be normalized by the sampling rate, yielding the
normalized frequency.

Examples

Circular motion
In a rotating or orbiting object, there is a relation between distance from the
axis, , tangential speed, , and the angular 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 A sphere
rotating around
an axis. Points
farther from the
where: axis move
faster, satisfying
ω is the angular frequency (SI unit: radians per second), ω = v / r.
T is the period (SI unit: seconds),
f is the ordinary frequency (SI unit: hertz).

Oscillations of a spring
An object attached to a spring can oscillate. If the spring is assumed to be ideal and massless
with no damping, then the motion is simple and harmonic with an 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]
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 made clear.

See also
Cycle per second
Radian per second
Degree (angle)
Mean motion
Rotational frequency
Simple harmonic motion

References and notes


1. Cummings, Karen; Halliday, David (2007). Understanding physics (https://books.google.co
m/books?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/sta
ndard/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/physicsfordummie0
0holz). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Publishing. pp. 201 (https://archive.org/details/physicsf
ordummie00holz/page/201). ISBN 978-0-7645-5433-9. "angular frequency."
4. Lerner, Lawrence S. (1996-01-01). Physics for scientists and engineers (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=eJhkD0LKtJEC&pg=PA145). Jones & Bartlett Learning. 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 (http
s://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015Metro..52...40M). doi:10.1088/0026-1394/52/1/40 (http
s://doi.org/10.1088%2F0026-1394%2F52%2F1%2F40). S2CID 3328342 (https://api.semanti
cscholar.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%2F5
48135b). PMID 28796224 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28796224).
7. Serway, Raymond A.; Jewett, John W. (2006). Principles of physics (https://books.google.co
m/books?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:

Olenick, Richard P.; Apostol, Tom M.; Goodstein, David L. (2007). The Mechanical Universe
(https://books.google.com/books?id=xMWwTpn53KsC&q=angular+frequency&pg=RA1-PA3
83). New York City: Cambridge University Press. pp. 383–385, 391–395. ISBN 978-0-521-
71592-8.

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