Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Course: Physics of Waves(PH11003) Session: 2023-2024(Autumn)

Tutorial 2: Overdamped, Critically damped and Forced oscillations
1. A massless spring of spring constant 20 Nm−1 is suspended from a rigid support and carries
a mass of 0.2 kg at its lower end. It is observed that the system performs damped oscillatory
motion and its energy decays to 1e of its initial value in 50 s. Find the following:
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(a) Time in which the amplitude decays to e
of the intial value.
(b) Damping constant β.
(c) Quality factor Q.
(d) Natural angular frequency ω0

2. (a) A spring-mass system is at rest and at a position x0 from the equilibrium position initially.
The natural frequency of this system is ω0 = 100 rad/s which is found to be the same as
the damping coefficient of the medium. Find the time at which the system experiences
the maximum damping force.
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(b) What would be the time if the damping coefficient is 4
times ω0 in part (a).

3. A gun barrel of mass m = 500 kg has a recoil spring of stiffness k = 3, 00, 000 N/m. As
the gun shoots, it recoils with a velocity v = 29.4 m/s and compresses the spring up to some
distance x. When the gun reaches the extreme position, a dashpot (a damping machine whose
working mechanism we are not concerned with) gets activated so that the gun slowly returns
to its original place of firing. For your convenience, the configurations has been described in
the figure below.

Given the information, find the following:

(a) The value of x.

(b) Critical damping coefficient of the dashpot.
(c) Time required for the barrel to return to a position 50mm from the initial position.
4. A disc of a torsional pendulum has a moment of inertia of 6 × 10−2 kg-m2 and is immersed in
a viscous fluid as shown in the figure below.

The shaft attached to it is 0.4 m long and 0.1 m in diameter. When the pendulum is oscillating,
the observed amplitudes on the same side of the mean position for successive cycles are 9◦ , 6◦
and 4◦ . Determine

(a) Logarithmic decrement

(b) Damping torque per unit velocity and
(c) the periodic time of vibration. Assume modulus of rigidity G = 4.4 × 1010 N/m2 , for the
shaft material.

5. (a) A pendulum is hanging from a movable pivot making an angle θ with the vertical. The
pivot is on a frictionless surface moving along a particular direction, as shown in the
figure below. Take the length of the (massless) string attaching the bob to the pivot
as l. Find the equation of motion of the system and solve for θ(t), taking small angle
approximation.

(b) Now, we only immerse the pendulum bob in a viscous fluid. Taking small angle approx-
imations, solve for θ(t).
6. Find the solution of the problem:

d2 x
+ ω 2 x = f0 cos γt, x(0) = 0, ẋ(0) = 0 (1)
dt2
(a) Find the limit: limγ→ω x(t)
(b) With small manipulation in the solution x(t), argue that one can find beats in this
system.

7. Consider the LCR series circuit (with inductance L, capacitance C and resistance R; denote
charge by q) connected with a time-dependent voltage source V (t) = V0 cos(ωt).

(a) Using Kirchoff’s voltage law, check that you will find a differential equation that resem-
bles like a forced oscillator. What is the power delivered (denoted by P ) by the external
voltage at any time t ? (Write the answer in terms of R, L, C, q and its derivatives).
(b) Using the expression in part (a), find the average power (denoted by < P >; the average
is done over a cycle of time T = 2πω
) delivered by the external source after a long time ?
(c) At any moment, there is some energy which is always stored in the circuit. What is the
average energy (denoted by < E >) which is stored in the circuit ?
<E>
(d) Define Q := 2π <P > T
. Find Q from the expressions found in part (b) and (c). What is
Q at resonance ?