Name: energy loss in oscillations
Uploaded: 2023-04-30T11:08:55.000Z
Duration: 1 min 7 s
Channel: JoVE

When a wood log floating on the surface of water is pushed downward and is allowed to bob up and down, it oscillates about its mean position with a constant amplitude similar to simple harmonic motion.
Over time, a dissipative force known as the damping force exerted by the water reduces the amplitude of oscillation with some energy loss, corresponding to its motion, and results in damped harmonic oscillations.
The damping force is proportional to the wood log&#39;s velocity, which is the measure of oscillation decay directed opposite to the motion.
The net force equals the restoring and damping forces, which act in the opposite directions.
Rearranging and rewriting the velocity and acceleration equation in terms of derivatives of position with respect to time leads to a differential quadratic equation, which describes the damped harmonic motion of the wood log.

damped oscillations

Damped Oscillations

In the real world, oscillations seldom follow true simple harmonic motion. A system that continues its motion indefinitely without losing its amplitude is termed undamped. However, friction of some sort usually dampens the motion, so it fades away or needs more force to continue. For example, a guitar string stops oscillating a few seconds after being plucked. Similarly, one must continually push a swing to keep a child swinging on a playground.
Although friction and other non-conservative forces can be made negligibly small, complete undamped motion is rare. In fact, these non-conservative forces are often required to dampen oscillations, such as in-car shock absorbers. For a system that has a small amount of damping, the period and frequency are nearly the same as for simple harmonic motion, but the amplitude gradually decreases. This occurs because the non-conservative damping force removes energy from the system, usually in the form of thermal energy. In general, energy removal by non-conservative forces is described as
<img alt="Static equilibrium diagram with &#931;Fx=0, &#931;Fy=0, showing a rigid beam on pivot with forces and torques." src="/files/ftp_upload/12769/12769_Equation_1.png" style="text-align: center; height: 12px;" data-altupdatedat="1761830439000" data-alt="Equation1" />
where Wnc is work done by a non-conservative force (here, the damping force). For a damped harmonic oscillator, Wnc is negative because it removes mechanical energy (KE + PE) from the system.
This text is adapted from <a href="https://openstax.org/books/college-physics/pages/16-7-damped-harmonic-motion">Openstax, College Physics, Section 16.7: Damped Harmonic Motion </a>and <a href="https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-1/pages/15-5-damped-oscillations">Openstax, University Physics Volume 1, Section 15.4: Damped Oscillations.</a>

In the real world, oscillations seldom follow true simple harmonic motion. A system that continues its motion indefinitely without losing its amplitude is ...

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JoVE Core

Physics

Unit 1

Oscillations

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

energy loss in oscillations

Oscillations in the real world often lose energy as they move. A system that keeps the same amplitude without any loss is called undamped. That kind of motion is rare, because friction and other non-conservative forces usually reduce the motion over time.

Common examples show this clearly. A guitar string stops vibrating a few seconds after it is plucked. A swing also needs a person to keep pushing it if the motion is to continue. In some devices, such as car shock absorbers, damping is useful because it helps control the motion.

When damping is small, the motion still looks much like simple harmonic motion. The period and frequency stay nearly the same, but the amplitude gets smaller and smaller. The damping force removes energy from the system, and that energy usually becomes thermal energy. Because mechanical energy is taken away, the work done by the non-conservative force, W nc, is negative.

Energy Loss in Oscillations

simple harmonic motion

Period and Frequency in Simple Harmonic Motion

Simple harmonic motion describes oscillatory motion when the net force follows Hooke's law. In this type of motion, the force acts toward the equilibrium position. If there is no damping from friction or other non-conservative forces, the oscillator moves with equal displacement on both sides of equilibrium. The period of a simple harmonic oscillator is found from the equation of motion. Period is the time for one complete oscillation. Frequency is the inverse of period, so the two values can...

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characteristics of simple harmonic motion

characteristics-of-simple-harmonic-motion

Simple Harmonic Motion: Period and Phase

Simple harmonic motion depends on how displacement, force, and acceleration work together. In this motion, the acceleration of the system, and therefore the net force, is proportional to the displacement and points in the opposite direction. That restoring force pulls the object back toward equilibrium. The period and frequency of a simple harmonic oscillator do not depend on amplitude. A diving board shows this idea well. A stiff, thick diving board has a large force constant, so it has a...

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oscillations about an equilibrium position

oscillations-about-an-equilibrium-position

Stable Equilibrium and Atomic Oscillation

Stable equilibrium is a key idea in oscillation. When an object sits at a stable equilibrium point, a small push moves it away, but it then tends to oscillate around that point. If the equilibrium point is unstable, a slight disturbance will not bring the object back. The transcript also describes a half-stable equilibrium point. It is still considered unstable, but the name comes from the fact that the force on only one side points toward the equilibrium point. That makes it different from a...

energy in simple harmonic motion

Simple Harmonic Motion: Energy and Speed

Simple harmonic motion combines potential energy and kinetic energy. In a spring-like oscillator, Hooke’s law explains the potential energy stored when the string or spring is stretched or compressed. Because there are no dissipative forces, the object also has kinetic energy as it moves.

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frequency of spring-mass system

How Mass and Spring Stiffness Set Oscillation

A spring-mass system shows simple harmonic motion, and its oscillation rate depends on the mass and the spring force constant. In this model, the angular frequency, period, and frequency are set by those two values. They do not depend on the motion’s amplitude or on the initial conditions. To find these relationships, the system can be analyzed with Newton’s second law. Imagine a block on a spring on a frictionless surface. Three forces act on the mass: weight, the normal force, and the spring...

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simple harmonic motion and uniform circular motion

simple-harmonic-motion-and-uniform-circular-motion

Simple Harmonic Motion from Circular Motion

Simple harmonic motion and uniform circular motion are closely linked. Simple harmonic motion is oscillatory motion in a system where the net force follows Hooke’s law. Uniform circular motion is motion along a circular path at constant speed. A simple way to create simple harmonic motion is to use uniform circular motion. One example is a ball attached to a vertical turntable that spins at a steady rate. If you watch the ball’s shadow on the floor, the shadow, or projection, moves in simple...

problem solving: energy in simple harmonic motion

problem-solving-energy-in-simple-harmonic-motion

Energy Conservation in Simple Harmonic Motion

Energy conservation in simple harmonic motion explains how a spring and mass system shares energy as it moves back and forth around equilibrium. Simple harmonic motion, or SHM, is periodic motion in time and position. The object oscillates with a constant amplitude and frequency. In SHM, kinetic energy and potential energy change into each other continuously. A good example is the spring in a car shock absorber as the car moves on a bumpy road. The wheel attached to the spring oscillates in...

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simple pendulum

Pendulum Motion and Period

A simple pendulum is a small ball, or bob, hanging from a string that has negligible mass and does not stretch. Pendulums appear in everyday life, including clocks, swing sets, and a sinker on a fishing line. Their motion is a useful model for studying repeating movement. The period of a simple pendulum depends on two factors: its length and the acceleration due to gravity. The period does not depend on the bob’s mass or on the maximum displacement. For small angles, the pendulum behaves like...

torsional pendulum

Angular Oscillation in a Torsion String

Angular oscillation in a torsion string is shown by a rigid body suspended from a string that twists as it moves. The twisting of the string provides the restoring force. The string is ideally massless, and in practice its mass is much smaller than the rigid body&amp;#39;s mass, so it is neglected. When the angular displacement is small, the motion can be modeled as linear angular oscillation. The amplitude is measured as an angle. In this system, the role of mass is played by the rigid...

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physical pendulum

Physical Pendulum Motion and Inertia

A physical pendulum is a rigid body that hangs from a fixed pivot point and swings when it is displaced. Its motion is similar to a simple pendulum. To describe that motion, physicists use the small-angle approximation, where sin θ ≈ θ. This approximation is valid up to about 14°. The period and angular frequency of a physical pendulum can be found by comparing it with a spring-mass system. The mass moment of inertia is the key quantity that describes how the body’s mass is spread around the...

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measuring acceleration due to gravity

Using Pendulums to Find Gravity

Pendulums can be used to measure the acceleration due to gravity. A simple pendulum is a point mass attached to a string. A physical pendulum is an object that swings in a similar way, but its mass is spread out, so it cannot be treated as a point mass on a string. A physical pendulum is described using rotational motion and moment of inertia. In both types of pendulum, gravity provides the restoring force that brings the object back toward the middle of its swing. For a simple pendulum,...

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Oscillations in the real world often lose energy as they move. A system that keeps the same amplitude without any loss is called undamped. That kind of motion is rare, because friction and other non-conservative forces usually reduce the motion over time. Common examples show this clearly. A guitar string stops vibrating a few seconds after it is plucked. A swing also needs a person to keep pushing it if the motion is to continue. In some devices, such as car shock absorbers, damping is useful...

types of damping

How Damping Changes Oscillations

Damping changes how a system oscillates by reducing its back-and-forth motion. As damping increases, the period and frequency begin to change because damping opposes motion and lowers the net force in both directions. When damping is very large, the system stops oscillating altogether. It then moves slowly toward equilibrium. An overdamped system reaches equilibrium slowly. An underdamped system reaches equilibrium faster, but it oscillates around the equilibrium point while doing so. A...

forced oscillations

Resonance in Driven Oscillators

Resonance in driven oscillators describes how a periodic force changes an object’s motion. A driven oscillator may first move in a messy way. These early motions are called transients. After the transients die out, the oscillator reaches a steady state. In this state, the motion becomes periodic and the displacement is determined. The amplitude of a driven oscillator can be found from the equations for force and motion. That amplitude depends on the natural frequency of the system and the...

concept of resonance and its characteristics

concept-of-resonance-and-its-characteristics

Resonance in Music, Cars, and Radios

Resonance is a key feature of driven oscillators, and it depends strongly on damping. Damping is the process that reduces motion by removing energy from the system. When a system must resonate at one specific frequency, very light damping is needed. Piano strings and many other musical instruments are common examples of this kind of response. Heavy damping works better when the goal is small-amplitude oscillations. A car suspension system uses this approach so that bumps do not produce large...

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key terms and concepts

Explore how friction and damping remove energy from oscillations, why amplitude fades, and how examples like guitar strings, swings, and shock absorbers fit the idea.

Energy Loss in Oscillations | JoVE K12

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Energy Loss in Oscillations

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