Module 2: The Damped Oscillator

Lecture 2: The Damped Oscillator

Damping usually comes into play whenever we consider motion. We study the
effect of damping on the spring-mass system. The damping force, will assumed
to be proportional to the velocity, is acting to oppose the motion. The total
force acting on the mass is
F = −kx − cẋ (2.1)
where in addition to the restoring force −kx due to the spring we also have
the damping force −cẋ. The equation of motion for the damped spring mass
system is
mẍ = −kx − cẋ . (2.2)
Recasting this in terms of more convenient coefficients, we have
ẍ + 2β ẋ + ω02 x = 0 (2.3)
This is a second order homogeneous equation with constant coefficients. Both
ω0 and β = c/(2m) have dimensions (time)−1 . Here 1/ω0 is the time-scale
of the oscillations that would occur if there was no damping, and 1/β is the
time-scale required for damping to bring any motion to rest. It is clear that
the nature of the motion depends on which time-scale 1/ω0 or 1/β is larger.
We proceed to solve equation (2.4) by taking a trial solution
x(t) = Aeαt . (2.4)
Putting the trial solution into equation (2.4) gives us the quadratic equation
α2 + 2βα + ω02 = 0 (2.5)
This has two solutions q
α1 = −β + β 2 − ω02 (2.6)
and q
α2 = −β − β 2 − ω02 (2.7)
The nature of the solution depends critically on the value of the damping
coefficient β, and the behaviour is quite different depending on whether β < ω0 ,
β = ω0 or β > ω0 .

13
14 CHAPTER 2. THE DAMPED OSCILLATOR.

x(t)=e−t cos(20 t)
0.5

x 0

−0.5

−1
0 1 2 3 4 5
t

Figure 2.1:

2.1 Underdamped Oscillations

We first consider the situation where β < ω0 which is referred to as under-
damped. Defining q
ω = ω02 − β 2 (2.8)
the two roots which are both complex have values

α1 = −β + iω and α2 = −β − iω (2.9)

The resulting solution is a superposition of the two roots

x(t) = e−βt [A1 eiωt + A2 e−iωt ] (2.10)

where A1 and A2 are constants which have to be determined from the initial
conditions. The term [A1 eiωt + A1 eiωt ] is a superposition of sin and cos which
can be written as
x(t) = Ae−βt cos(ωt + φ) (2.11)
This can also be expressed in the complex notation as

x̃(t) = Ãe(iω−β)t (2.12)

where à = Aeiφ is the complex amplitude which has both the amplitude
and phase information. Figure 2.1 shows the underdamped motion x(t) =
e−t cos(20t),whereas Figure. 2.2(a) shows the underdamped motion x(t) =
√   
t−π
2 exp 20 cos 4
−t

In all cases damping reduces the frequency of the oscillations i.e. ω < ω0 .
The main effect of damping is that it causes the amplitude of the oscillations
to decay exponentially with time. It is often useful to quantify the decay in
the amplitude during the time period of a single oscillation T = 2π/ω. This
is quantified by the logarithmic decrement which is defined as
" #
x(t) 2πβ
λ = ln = (2.13)
x(t + T ) ω
2.1. UNDERDAMPED OSCILLATIONS 15

C
1 q
x(t)
0.5 A1 A2 A3 R
5 10
t
15 20 25 30 L
-0.5

-1 i

Figure 2.2: (a) and (b)

 
An
From figure 2.2(a) it is clear that λ = ln An+1

Energy stored in a damped harmonic oscillator In the case of a

damped oscillator the total energy of the system decreases with time. Since
a damping factor exp(−βt) is present in the expression of displacement x(t),
the total energy is given by,
1
E(t) = exp(−2βt)kA2 , (2.14)
2
where A is the initial amplitude.
Example: Damped SHM in LCR circuit( Figure 2.2(b)): The voltage equa-
tion for the circuit is,
di
L + Ri + q/C = 0
dt
or, Lq̈ + Rq̇ + q/C = 0. (2.15)

where i is he current in the circuit and q is the charge stored in the capacitor.
Comparing (2.15) with equation (2.2) we obtain the solution c for charge on
the capacitor as,
 q 
q(t) = exp(−Rt/2L) q+ exp (R2 /4L2 ) − (1/LC) t (2.16)
 q 
+ q− exp − (R2 /4L2 ) − (1/LC) t (2.17)

where q+ & q− are determined from the initial condition.

Problems

1. An under-damped oscillator with x̃(t) = Ãe(iω−β)t has initial displace-

ment and velocity x0 and v0 respectively. Calculate à and obtain x(t)
in terms of the initial conditions.
Solution:
à = x0 −i(v0 +βx0 )/ω and x(t) = e−βt [x0 cos ωt + ((v0 + βx0 )/ω) sin ωt].
16 CHAPTER 2. THE DAMPED OSCILLATOR.

2. An under-damped oscillator has a time period of 2s and the amplitude

of oscillation goes down by 10% in one oscillation. [a.] What is the
logarithmic decrement λ of the oscillator? [b.] Determine the damping
coefficient β. [c.] What would be the time period of this oscillator if
there was no damping? [d.] What should be β if the time period is to be
increased to 4s? ([a.] 1.05 × 10−1 [b.] 5.4 × 10−2 s−1 [c.]2s [d.] 2.72s−1

3. Two identical under-damped oscillators have damping coefficient and

angular frequency β and ω respectively. At t = 0 one oscillator is at
rest with displacement a0 while the other has velocity v0 and is at the
equilibrium position. What is the phase difference between these two
oscillators. (π/2 − tan−1 (β/ω))

4. An LCR circuit has an inductance L = 1 mH, a capacitance C = 0.1 µF

and resistance R = 250Ω in series. The capacitor has a voltage 10 V at
the instant t = 0 when the circuit is completed. What is the voltage
across the capacitor after 10µs and 20µs? (7.64 V, 4.84 V )