9702 · 17.3
Damped and forced oscillations, resonance
Imagine a pendulum swinging back and forth. It doesn't swing forever, does it? That's because of **damping**. But what if you keep giving it little pushes? That's a **forced oscillation**. And what if your pushes perfectly match its natural rhythm? Then you get **resonance**, a powerful phenomenon with big effects! This pilot aligns with **Senpai Corner** A Level notes (2025–2027) for topic **17.3**.
Need to know
What you need to know
- All oscillations eventually come to a stop due to resistive forces, such as friction or air resistance (drag).
- These resistive forces act on an oscillating system causing damping.
- Damping is defined as the reduction in energy and amplitude of oscillations due to resistive forces on the oscillating system.
- Damping continues until the oscillator comes to rest at the equilibrium position.
- Frequency does not change during damping only the amplitude of the oscillation decreases.
Explanation
Damped and forced oscillations, resonance
- All oscillations eventually come to a stop due to resistive forces, such as friction or air resistance (drag).
- These resistive forces act on an oscillating system causing damping.
- Damping is defined as the reduction in energy and amplitude of oscillations due to resistive forces on the oscillating system.
- Damping continues until the oscillator comes to rest at the equilibrium position.