DAMPED OSCILATION OF A LIQUID

COLUMN

INSTRUCTED BY: Mr. L.A.U.S. Liyanarachchi

NAME: L.N. Udayanga

INDEX NO: 090529K
COURSE: B.Sc Engineering (ME)

THEORY

Equilibrium level
position

Effective mass and stiffness of the liquid column

m = Al
k = 2Ag
Assuming the damping to be viscous- The equation of motion can be written as,
..
.
mx + cx + kx = 0
As to the standard format
+ 2 + 2x = 0, where = {k/m}1/2 and = c/2*{mk}1/2
Logarithmic increments of amplitudes of oscillation and period of oscillation
ln [ ar / ar+1 ] = 2/{1-2}1/2
T = 2/ {1-2}1/2
A
Area of cross section of tube
c
Damping coefficient

Damping ratio

Un-damped natural frequency

k
Effective stiffness
g
Acceleration due to gravity
ar
Oscillation amplitudes
T
Period of damped oscillation
x
Displacement
l
Length of liquid column
m
Mass of liquid column

Density of the liquid

Length (l) Consecutive (uninterrupted

[cm]
Amplitudes) [cm]
ar
ar+1
ar+2
ar+3
ar+4

Period
(4T) [s]

236.7

9.06
9.19
9.27
8.93
8.77
8.86
8.61
8.78
8.61
8.49
8.43
8.42
8.27
8.32
8.22

230

220

210

200

13.7
12.7
13.7
16.5
16.5
16.2
18.6
17.7
18.9
19.4
20.1
20
21.5
21.6
21.1

8.2
7.1
8
9.5
10
9.8
10.4
10
10.5
10.4
10.7
11
11
11.2
11

5.7
4.4
5.2
6.3
6.7
6.7
7
7.2
7
6.4
6.7
6.7
7.2
7
7

4.3
4
4.5
4.5
5
5.1
5.1
5.1
5
4.1
4.6
4.6
5
4.9
5.2

3.5
3
3.6
3.5
4
3.7
3.9
4
4
3.5
3.5
3.6
3.6
3.5
3.6

CALCULATIONS

PI
Circumferenc
e [cm]
radius
area

3.14159
27
12.5
0.01989
44
0.00124
34

ln(ar
)

ln(ar
+1)

ln(ar
+2)

ln(ar
+3)

ln(ar
+4)

Bet
a

2.617
2.542

2.104
1.960

1.740
1.482

1.459
1.386

1.253
1.099

-0.337
-0.346

0.054
0.055

2.617
2.803
2.803

2.079
2.251
2.303

1.649
1.841
1.902

1.504
1.504
1.609

1.281
1.253
1.386

-0.325
-0.385
-0.353

0.052
0.061
0.056

2.785
2.923
2.874

2.282
2.342
2.303

1.902
1.946
1.974

1.629
1.629
1.629

1.308
1.361
1.386

-0.361
-0.384
-0.365

0.057
0.061
0.058

2.939
2.965
3.001

2.351
2.342
2.370

1.946
1.856
1.902

1.609
1.411
1.526

1.386
1.253
1.253

-0.385
-0.436
-0.434

0.061
0.069
0.069

2.996
3.068
3.073

2.398
2.398
2.416

1.902
1.974
1.946

1.526
1.609
1.589

1.281
1.281
1.253

-0.430
-0.436
-0.447

0.068
0.069
0.071

3.049

2.398

1.946

1.649

1.281

-0.429
Averag
e

0.068

l [cm]
236.7
00
230.0
00
220.0
00
210.0
00
200.0
00

Period
(Avg)

Omega
square
(damp
ed)

0.053

2.293

2.744

7.528

0.422

7.506

0.058

2.213

2.844

8.086

0.435

8.059

0.060

2.167

0.069

2.112

0.069

2.068

2.905
8.440
2.983
8.895
2g (damped)
3.046
9.280
{m}

g
(damped
)

1/l
[m-1]

Omeg
a
squar
e

0.455
8.410
0.476
8.853
21.5551
0.50066 9.236

10.7
8

2g {m}

21.2462
21

10.6
2

2Ap*(2g)^0.5/
c {m}

35.2637
53

c
(practic 0.31
al)
2

Perio
d
(Avg)

0.05
3

2.293

0.05
8

2.213

0.06
0

2.167

0.06
9

2.112

0.06
9

2.068

0.06
2

Omega
(damp
ed)

Beta
(Avg)

Bet
a
(Av
g)

1/bet
a
sqrt(l)
18.72
1
1.539
17.19
3
1.517
16.66
3
1.483
14.53
7
1.449
14.40
7
1.414

Graphs

ln(ar) vs r
12.000
10.000
8.000
ln(ar)

6.000
4.000
2.000
0.000
0

10

12

ln(ar) vs r
12.000
10.000
8.000
ln(ar)

6.000
4.000
2.000
0.000
0

6
r

10

12

m = -0.36565

ln(ar) vs r
12.000
10.000
8.000
ln(ar)

6.000
4.000
2.000
0.000
0

10

12

10

12

m= -0.37783

ln(ar) vs r
12.000
10.000
8.000
ln(ar)

6.000
4.000
2.000
0.000
0

6
r

m=-0.43313

ln(ar) vs r
12.000
10.000
8.000
ln(ar)

6.000
4.000
2.000
0.000
0

10

12

m= -0.43714

2 vs 1/l
10.00
9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
2 [rad2s-2]

5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
0.41 0.42 0.43 0.44 0.45 0.46 0.47 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.51
1/l [m-1]

2g=m= 21.74937
g= 10.87468

1/ vs
11.0
10.5
10.0
1/

9.5
9.0
8.5
1.40

1.42

1.44

1.46

1.48

1.50

1.52

1.54

1.56

x=

m=10.97355

Discussion
Oscillations occur whenever a force exists that pushes an object back towards a stable equilibrium
position whenever it is displaced from it.
Such forces abound in nature - things are held together in structured form because they are in stable
equilibrium positions and when they are disturbed in certain ways, they oscillate.
When the displacement from equilibrium is small, the restoring force is often linearly related to the
displacement, at least to a good approximation. In that case the oscillations take on a special
character - they are called harmonic oscillations as they are described by harmonic functions.
The damping ratio, , is a dimensionless measure describing how oscillations in a system decay after
a disturbance. Many systems show oscillatory behavior when they are disturbed from their position
of static equilibrium. A liquid column at rest in a U tube is disturbed by displacing its equilibrium
position , will traverse up and down from the initial equilibrium position. On each oscillation, the
system is trying to return to its equilibrium position, but surpasses it. Frictional losses damp the
system and cause the oscillations to gradually decay in amplitude towards zero. The damping ratio is
a measure of describing how rapidly the oscillations decay from one to the next.
Oscillations we encounter in nature are almost always damped. It means that the body involved in the
oscillation is undergoing a force which is opposed to its velocity. We can identify 3 types of damped
oscillations;

1. Critically damped ( = 1)

The system returns to equilibrium as quickly as possible without oscillating

2. Over damped (>1)

The system returns (exponentially decays) to equilibrium without oscillating. Larger values of
the damping ratio () , return to equilibrium slower.

3. Under damped (0<1)

The system oscillates (with a slightly different frequency than the un-damped case) with the
amplitude gradually decreasing to zero.

Reasons for any deviations of the calculated values from the desired values.

The experiment included measurement of time which was few seconds .There would have
been a considerable error contributing to the deviations.
The heights were measured by naked eye observation where the accuracy is far from perfect
And the U tube columns were not hundred percent vertical which might have affected the
behavior of oscillations of the liquid.
The scale we used (the meter ruler)and the liquid columns were few centimeters away which
would have caused an error while measuring the starting height.
More than one person were involved in measuring the oscillation of the liquid and since the
vision activity changes from person to person this would have created a change in pattern.
Inaccuracy in the U tube we used such as the variations in cross sectional area, leaks and air
bubbles.
Changes in environmental conditions such as temperature..
Errors in recording the observations.
Errors in the measuring equipment such as the stop watch.

How to reduce such errors

Use a newer U tube without any leaks or other damages.

Take measurements properly.
Take measurements in quick succession without allowing the environment conditions to
change.
Take few measurements and calculate the average once applying to the equations.
Check whether the recorded results were accurate or maybe get few people to record the
results.
Find proper measuring equipment.