Lectures on

Oscillations and Waves

By
D. D. Pant
Associate Professor
Department of Physics
BITS Pilani
Chamber No. 3258
Email Id [email protected]
Mobile No. 09950425605

Text Book:
Vibrations and Waves
by
A. P. French
Reference Book:
Waves and Oscillations
by
N. K. Bajaj

Oscillations and Waves

Why study oscillations and waves?
Almost

all physical situations involve periodic or

oscillatory behavior
Motion of the planets
Stable mechanical systems
Electrical systems
Fundamental forces
Periodic motion in continuous media
Wave propagation
Electromagnetic radiation (light/optics)
Matter particles are waves.

The world is full of oscillatory motions

-A child on a swing
-A guitar string being played
-Swinging pendulum of wall clock
-Atoms in molecules or in solid lattice
-Air molecules as a sound wave passes by
-Radio waves, microwaves and visible light are
oscillating magnetic and electric field vectors

Early Studies of Oscillations

Robert Hooke
(1635-1703)

Christian Huygens
(1623-1697)

Isaac Newton
(1642-1727)

Periodic motion:- Any motion that

repeats itself in equal intervals of
time.
Oscillatory motion:- If a particle
moves back and forth over the
same path.

Harmonic motion:- Oscillatory

motions which can be expressed in
terms of sine and cosine functions.

Simple Harmonic Oscillators

A simple pendulum
A mass fixed to a wall via a spring
A frictionless U tube containing liquid
A hydrometer floating in a liquid

An inductor connected across a

capacitor carrying a charge q

Simple Harmonic Motion

The idealized SHO is a spring-mass system

F = -kx

Equation of motion :
d2x
m 2 kx
dt

O
(The equilibrium
position)

Or,
d2x
2

x0
2
dt

2 k

m

Floating objects
Example I : The up-down motion of a partially
immersed solid

F
x

Equilibrium Position

Pushed down by x

F Additional Buoyancy Force Axg

Equation of motion of the body is :

d 2x
m 2 Ag x
dt

Simple Harmonic motion with

Ag
m

Example II : Oscillation of water column in

a U-tube

M : Total mass of liquid

L : Total length of the water column

M 2
U( y) g y
L

1
KE M y 2
2

1
M 2
2
E M y
gy
2
L

Energy conservation :
dE
0
dt

M
M y y 2 g
y y 0
L

2g
y
y0
L
SHM of frequency :

2g
L

Example III
Prob. 6.17 ( K & K):
A rod of length l and mass m, pivoted at one end, is
held by a spring at its midpoint and a spring at its
far end, both pulling in opposite directions. The
springs have spring constant k, and at equilibrium
their pull is perpendicular to the rod. Find the
frequency of small oscillations about the
equilibrium position.

15k 3 g

4m 2l

..

Solution of SHM equation x x 0

2

The two independent solutions are :

cost & sin t

The most general solution of SHM equation is :

x (t ) A cos(t ) B sin(t )
(A & B are arbitrary constants)

Any arbitrary initial condition on position and

velocity can be accommodated within the solution
of above kind, with appropriate values of A & B
Example :

Suppose the initial (t = 0) position and initial

velocity are x 0 & v0 respectively. Obtain the
solution.

x 0 A ; v0 B

v0
x ( t ) x 0 cos t
sin t

Another form for the solution

Given a pair of arbitrary constants A & B , one
can express them in terms of another pair of
arbitrary constants C & as :

A C cos ; B C sin
Then,

x(t ) C cos cost C sin sin t C cos(t )

In the form :

x(t ) C cos(t ),

C : Amplitude of oscillation ;

: Phase Angle

The solution of a linear differential equation with

constant coefficient is an exponential function :

x(t ) C e

pt

d x
2
x0
Substituting this into the eq.
2
dt
We get

p j

So the most general complex solution is :

x(t ) C1 e j t C2 e j t

C1 & C2 are complex

C e j ( t ) C e j ( t ) 2C Cos(t )
A Cos(t )

A e j ( t )
The complex solution :

z A e j ( t )

A
t

is thus, a rotating vector of fixed length A ,

rotating counter-clockwise, with an angular
velocity

The SHM is the projection of the vector on the xaxis.

z A e j ( t )
y A sin( t )

x A cos( t )

SHM as projection of uniform circular motion.

z A e j ( t )

( t )
x

-A

x A cos(t )

Prob. 3.19
y

Mass m connected to two

springs on frictionless
horizontal table. Spring
constant k and unstretched
lengths of springs 0

(k)

(k)

a) Eq. of motion along x

d2x
m 2 2k x
dt
F = - 2kx

2k
m

b) Eq. of motion along y :

1/ 2

y
1 2

y
1 2
2

y2
0 ( 0 )
( 0 )
2

0
Fy 2 k
y

d2y
0
m 2 2k
y
dt

2k 0

1/ 2

c) Ratio of periods along x & y

1/ 2

y 0

Ty

Tx

d) x & y as functions of time if x0 y0 A0 and mass

starts from rest
y

x(t ) A0 cosxt

A0 , A0

y(t ) A0 cos y t
at t = 0

Damped Simple Harmonic Motion

In addition to the restoring force, there is a
damping force, always opposing the motion
of the oscillator
1. Pendulum with air drag

2. U-tube with viscous liquid

The damping force is usually proportional to
the velocity of the oscillator :
Fdamp

dx
bv b
dt

Damped Simple Harmonic Motion

Equation of motion :
d2x
dx
m 2 k x b
dt
dt

Or,

d2x
dx
2

0 x 0
2
dt
dt

b
where
has dimension of frequency
m

k
and 0
is angular frequency when damping is absent
m
It is called undamped frequency or natural frequency

To solve this equation, we try a solution of the form

x(t ) C e

pt

Substituting in the equation, we get

2
2
0

p p 0

2
p

0
2
4
2

x(t ) C e

2
2

0 t
4
2

2
2
Square root term 0 can be positive, zero or negative
4

Each value of this term describes particular

type of motion

Case 1: Heavily Damped or Over Damped

Motion 2
02 or square root term is +ve
4

Or damping force > restoring force

For example Pendulum inside thick syrup

Let us write

2
4

q
2
0

Most general solution is

x(t) e

- t
2

C e
1

qt

C2e

qt

Real exponential functions means

Non Oscillatory Motion

i) Initial conditions :Pendulum released from rest

i.e. x(0) x0 ; x(0) 0

x0
x(t )
e
4q

t
2

2q e

qt

2q e qt

x(t)

ii) With the initial conditions :

x(0) 0 ; x (0) v0

v0
x(t )
e
2q

t
2

qt

e q t

x(t)

Case 2: Critical Damping

square root term is zero i.e. q = 0

i.e.

2
4

02

This is the limiting case of behaviour of case 1

as q changes from +ve to ve value.
The most general solution is
x( t ) (A B t ) e

t
2

i) With the initial conditions :

x(0) x0 ; x (0) 0

x ( t ) x 0 1 t e
2

t
2

x(t)

ii) With the initial conditions :

x(0) 0 ; x (0) v0

x( t) v 0 t e

t
2

x(t)

Applications of Critical Damping Mechanism

In many systems, quick damping is desirable
to bring the system to a quick stop.
i) Needle in meters such as ammeter,
voltmeter etc.

ii) Door closers :

Out of the two non-oscillatory damping over

damping and critical damping it is the latter
that brings the system back to equilibrium
quicker

x(t)

Critical Damping
Over Damping

x cd ( t )
im
0
t x (t)
od

Case 3: Damped Simple Harmonic Motion

2
02
or
square
root
term
is
-ve
4
Or damping force < restoring force

So p is a complex quantity
i.e. p
Where

2
0

4
is angular frequency of damped motion

The most general complex solution :

z (t ) e

t
2

A e

j t

Be

j t

The most general real solution :

x( t ) A0 e

t
2

cos( t )

A0 and are obtained from initial condition

This is a SHM with decaying amplitude

x( t )

A0 e

t
2

Damped Simple Harmonic motion

Rotating vector representation of Damped SHO

Amplitude of the oscillator decays with time as

A ( t) A0 e

t
2

Energy of the oscillator also decays with time as

1
1
2
2
2 t
E k A (t ) m 0 A0 e
2
2

E0 e

Frequency of damped oscillator is less than the

undamped oscillator

( 0 ),
2

2
0

Prob. 3.12 . The motion of a linear

oscillator may be represented by means of a
graph in which x is shown as abscissa and x
is shown as ordinate. The history of the
oscillator is thus a curve.
a) Show that for an undamped oscillator,
this curve is an ellipse.

Ans. The total energy of an undamped

oscillator, a constant, is given by :

1
1
2 2
2
E m 0 x m x
2
2

2E

m 2
0

2E

This is an equation of an ellipse

Path is an ellipse

2E
m

x
2E
m 2

b) Show that if a damping term is

introduced, one gets a curve spiraling into
the origin

Ans. Total energy E of the damped oscillator

decreases with time, so both the semi-major
and semi-minor axes continuously decrease
with time.

Quality Factor or Q value

It describes the charactertics of Damped
Harmonic Motion
It is defined as the number of radians through
which damped oscillator oscillates as its energy
decays to e-1 of its initial value.
E E0 e t E0 e 1
t

2
Number of radians in this time

x( t )

Quality Factor
t
x( t )

1
t
x( t )

3
t

Oscillator 4 is a better quality oscillator than

1 -3 , even though its amplitude decreases
faster

The true quality of a damped SHO is not

measured by how long it lives (time in
which the amplitude drops substantially),
but rather, by how many cycles of
oscillations it completes in this lifetime.

2

0
2
4
4Q
2

2
0

For large Q (Q > 5) or for small damping

0
Q
( L arg e Q)

Amplitude after time t :

A( t ) A 0 e

t
2Q

Amplitude after n cycles :

A n A0 e

n
Q

Energy after n cycles :

E n E0 e

2n
Q

Q is also obtained from following energy relation

energy stored in system

Q 2
energy lost per cycle

Prob. 3.16 According to classical electromagnetic theory an accelerated electron

radiates energy at the rate :
2

Ke a
P
3
c

K 6 109 N m2 C 2
e = electron charge
c = speed of light
a = instantaneous acceleration

a) If an electron were oscillating along a

straight line :

x A sin t

how much energy would it radiate in one cycle?

Ans :

a x A sin t
2

Ke A
2
P
sin t
3
c
2

K e A
P dt
3
c
0
T

Ecycle

b) What is the Q of this oscillator?

energy stored in system

Q 2
energy lost per cycle

m A c mc

Q 2

2 3 2
2
2K e A Ke
2

2 3

c) After how many oscillations, will the

energy be down to half the initial value?

E n E 0e

2 n

E0

Q
n
n 2
2

d) Putting for the typical optical

frequency, find Q and the half life

opt

2c

4.0 1015 sec1

opt
3

mc
Q
Ke 2opt

T1 / 2

10

2 n1 / 2 Q n2
8

1.7 10 sec