Module – 1
Oscillations and Waves
1. Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
Definition of SHM –
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM) is a fundamental type of oscillatory motion
observed in many physical systems, such as springs, pendulums, and vibrating
strings. In SHM, a particle or object moves back and forth about an equilibrium
position, and the restoring force that brings it back is proportional to its
displacement.
1.2 Conditions for SHM –
(a) The motion is periodic as well as oscillatory.
(b) The restoring force acting on the particle (and hence the acceleration) is
directly proportional to the displacement of the particle and directs oppositely to
the displacement measured from the mean position.
(c) The acceleration of the oscillating particle is always directed towards the mean
position of its path.
(d) The motion of the simple harmonic oscillator (SHO) always takes place in a
straight line.
1.3 Equation of motion of SHM and its solution –
Using Newton’s Second Law: ----- 1)
Substitute the restoring force:
--- 2)
Rearranging: ----- 3)
Let: --4)
Therefore, the equation of motion for SHM becomes:
---- 5)
The solution of the equation of motion for SHM can be written as
----- 6)
1.4 Characteristics of SHM -
1.5 Velocity and Acceleration of SHM –
From Eq. 12) we can say that, when the particle is at its mean position, we
get , so in this position the particle velocity is maximum and it is
given by
and at either of the extreme positions (i.e., = ± a), velocity becomes
minimum and it is given by .
Similarly, from Eq. 13) we can comment that, when the particle is at its
extreme position, = ± a and the magnitude of the acceleration is given by
[It is maximum]
and when the particle is at its mean position, and the magnitude of
the acceleration is given by = 0 [It is minimum].
1.6 Energy of a particle executing SHM –
When a particle executes simple harmonic motion, it possesses both kinds of
mechanical energy, namely potential and kinetic energy at any instant of time.
Because the potential energy of an oscillating particle at
any instant of time can be calculated from the total
amount of work done in overcoming the effect of the
restoring force, in this case the restoring force is given by
Damped Harmonic Oscillator
When a free pendulum is allowed to vibrate in air, there are always frictional forces acting on
the system and with time the energy of the system gets dissipated. As a result, the amplitude of
vibration of the system decreases continuously and finally dies out with time. Such vibrations
are known as free damped vibrations. In case of small oscillations, the dissipative forces due to
friction are proportional to the velocity of the vibrator in that instant of time.
In case of damped harmonic oscillator, forces acting are,
1. Restoring force [ , where k is known as the force constant or spring constant].
2. Retarding force [ , where is known as the co-efficient of friction].
(1)
(2)
Where is the natural frequency of oscillation
is the damping factor.
Equation (3) represents the differential equation of the damped harmonic oscillator where the
second term is the dissipative force and the third term is the restoring force term.
Solution of differential equation of a damped harmonic oscillator:
Let us consider,
(3)
Substituting in Eq. (2),
Therefore,
The general solution of the damped harmonic oscillator becomes,
(4)
Where A1 and A2 are two constants whose values can be determined from initial conditions.
Case 1: When ; underdamped oscillations
Case 2: When ; over damped oscillations
Case 3: When ; critically damped oscillations
Fig.1: Graphical representation of under damped, over damped and
critically damped motion.
Under damped oscillations:
In this case, i.e. damping is small.
Therefore, , and hence it is imaginary.
From the general solution of damped harmonic oscillation (Eq. 4),
Now,
Substituting,
Where,
Let us consider,
where, ,
Substituting,
(5)
Equation (5) is the solution for damped harmonic oscillator.
If there is no damping, b=0
which is the solution for simple harmonic oscillation.
The expressed in equation (5) represents damped oscillatory motion whose amplitude is
which decreases exponentially with respect to time at a rate determined by decay constant ‘b’.
The time period is given by,
Fig.2: Graphical representation of an under damped harmonic oscillator
Logarithmic decrement of amplitude:
When the motion is underdamped oscillatory, the amplitude falls off with time. Let
be the successive maximum displacements on the opposite of the mean
position. Then
Where T is the time period. The quantity is termed the decrement. The logarithmic decrement
is defined by
Relaxation time of a damped harmonic oscillator:
The relaxation time of a damped harmonic oscillator is the time it takes for the amplitude of its
oscillations to decrease to 1/e of its initial value.
At 1/e of amplitude time taken be =
i.e., relaxation time is inversely related to damping co-efficient.
Forced Harmonic Oscillator
When a vibrating system is acted upon by an external periodic force, it is assumed to be
in a state of fore vibrations. Initially the body tend to vibrate with its own natural frequency,
while the applied force tries to make the body vibrate with the frequency of applied force. The
natural vibration of the forced body dies away quickly due to the influence of the applied force
and ultimately its vibrations with a frequency which is same as that of the applied force.
When the natural frequency of oscillations become equal to the forced periodic
frequency of oscillations, then the resultant amplitude become very large. This phenomenon is
called resonance or sympathetic vibration.
Let us represent the external simple harmonic force acting on a particle of mass ‘m’, by
Fcost, where F is its magnitude and is the angular frequency. Hence, in case of forced
harmonic oscillator, the force acting are –
Therefore, the equation of motion of particle is,
Where,
In the steady state condition the system will oscillate with the same frequency as that of the
external periodic frequency.
Let us consider, the solution of equation (i) to be of the form,
Equation (ii) represents a SHM of amplitude A and frequency = /2, and the phase lagging
behind that of the forcing system by angle α.
Substituting in equation (i),
Since the equation is true for all values of t, coefficients of cos(t - α) and sin(t - α) on both
sides must be separately equal.
And,
Squaring and adding,
Therefore,
(v)
The complete solution
The first term of the complete solution is called the transient solution. Transient solution
comes from the part of Complementary function. The second term gives the steady state
motion. The steady state function comes from the Particular Integral.
Amplitude Resonance:
In case of a forced harmonic oscillator, the amplitude of vibration,
A will become maximum when denominator becomes minimum.
Thus for amplitude to be maximum, the frequency of oscillation must be
Substituting
The maximum amplitude at resonance becomes
Hence, maximum amplitude is greater, the lower the value of damping factor ‘b’
Velocity resonance:-
In case of a forced harmonic oscillator, the velocity amplitude is
When , i.e., when the mechanical reactance is zero. Hence the velocity
resonance occurs when
Or,
So, at resonance ( = ), frequency of forcing system coincides with that of natural
frequency of the forced system, then energy of vibration of the forced system is maximum.
This phenomenon is known as energy resonance or velocity resonance or simply resonance.
Fig.4: Variation of sharpness of resonance with damping parameter in a forced harmonic
oscillator
Sharpness of Resonance/ Quality factor
Fig.5: Bandwidth for a forced harmonic oscillator
′
The values of at which Pavg becomes half of its maximum value is called half power points.
These are two quadratic equations in ,
Since cannot be negative, we consider the positive roots only.
The frequency interval between two half points,
The frequency interval between the two half power points is called full frequency at half
maximum power or simply bandwidth.
The quality factor or Q-factor is defined by
Therefore, quality factor is defined as the ratio of resonant frequency to bandwidth and is
equal to the sharpness of resonance.
SHM in a LC circuit
Let us consider the following LC circuit containing one inductor L and a capacitor C
connected parallel.
Fig.6: SHM in LC circuit
Voltage across capacitor
Voltage across inductor ; The negative indicating the voltage opposes the
increase of current.
Therefore, from Kirchoff’s law,
=0
=0
Where,
Thus an electrical circuit consisting of an inductor and a capacitor, the charge oscillates
simple harmonically with an angular frequency
Damped Vibration in an LCR circuit
Let us consider the following electrical circuit. It is an LCR circuit capable of showing
damped
When R = 0, the oscillation of the circuit are underdamped with angular frequency .
The resistance generates dissipative force. At any time t, is the potential of the
capacitor and induced e.m.f. across the inductor is , and potential across the resistor is
IR.
Therefore,
Where,
This LCR circuit represent damped vibrator.
Forced Vibration in an LCR circuit
The presence of the resistance R in the circuit causes loss of energy. The loss of energy is
compensated by the energy supplied by the ac sources Thus the LCr circuit
acts as a forced oscillator.
At any time, t, is the potential across capacitor C.
is the induced e.m.f across inductor L.
IR is the potential across the resistance R.
is any e.m.f. across ac source.
Where,
This LCR represents forced vibrator.
Practice set: CA1 (BS PH 201), Even Semester, 2025 – 2026
Module-1 (Waves and Oscillations)
1. (i) Write down the differential equation of Simple Harmonic Motion and explain each term.
(iii) Calculate the displacement to amplitude ratio for a SHM when the kinetic energy is 90% of the
total energy.
2. (i) Show that the total energy of a particle executing SHM is constant. Plot the variation of kinetic
energy, potential energy, total energy in a single graph.
(ii) The displacement equation of a simple harmonic oscillator is given by x=10sin ( t + ) cm.
Calculate the amplitude, frequency of oscillation, time period and epoch?
(iii) A particle is executing SHM. At an instant of time its displacement is 12 cm and velocity is 5
cm/s, when displacement is 5 cm, velocity is 12 cm/s. Calculate its amplitude, frequency and time
period.
3. Establish SHM and calculate the time period of the liquid column of length L in a U-tube, if it is
depressed in one arm by y, is the density of the liquid and is the cross-sectional area of the arm of
the U-tube.
4. (i) Establish the differential equation for the damped harmonic oscillator and explain each term.
Find the general solution of the motion.
(ii) Derive the expression of displacement for underdamped motion. Give a graphical comparison
among under damped, over damped and critically damped harmonic motion.
(iii) Calculate the value of frequency (in Hz) of L-C oscillation with L = 200 mH and C= 80μF.
5. An oscillatory mass of 10 gm is acted on by a restoring force constant of 5 dyne/cm and a damping
force constant of 2dyne-sec/cm. Find whether the motion is overdamped or oscillatory. Find the
resisting force per unit velocity which will make the motion critically damped.
6. (i) Define the following terms in connection with the damped simple harmonic motion of a particle:
(a) relaxation time (b) logarithmic decrement.
(ii) How does relaxation time vary with damping coefficient?
7. (i) Establish the differential equation of a forced harmonic oscillator explaining each term. Write
down the transient and steady state solutions of the forced harmonic oscillator.
(ii) Draw and write down the differential equation of a series L-C-R circuit driven by a sinusoidal
voltage.
8. (i) What is resonance? Find out the frequency at which the amplitude resonance occurs. Establish
the condition for velocity resonance for a mechanical system.
(ii) Define quality factor (Q) and sharpness of resonance (S). Write down the relation between them.