Types of Damping

If the amount of damping in a system is gradually increased, the period and frequency start to become affected because damping opposes, and hence slows, the back and forth motion (the net force is smaller in both directions). If there is a very large amount of damping, the system does not even oscillate; instead, it slowly moves toward equilibri...

Consider a wood log floating on the surface of the water. When it is pushed downward and allowed to bob up and down, it oscillates about its mean position. Over time, the dissipative force reduces the amplitude of oscillation, and it can be described by the equation of damped harmonic motion.

On solving, if the imaginary part is non-zero,...