Module 3: The Damped Oscillator-II

Lecture 3: The Damped Oscillator-II

3.1 Over-damped Oscillations.

This refers to the situation where

β > ω0 (3.1)

The two roots are q

α1 = −β + β 2 − ω02 = −γ1 (3.2)
and
q
α2 = −β − β 2 − ω02 = −γ2 (3.3)
where both γ1 , γ2 > 0 and γ2 > γ1 . The two roots give rise to exponentially
decaying solutions, one of which decays faster than the other

x(t) = A1 e−γ1 t + A2 e−γ2 t . (3.4)

The constants A1 and A2 are determined by the initial conditions. For initial
position x0 and velocity v0 we have

v0 + γ2 x0 −γ1 t v0 + γ1 x0 −γ2 t
x(t) = e − e (3.5)
γ2 − γ1 γ2 − γ1

The overdamped oscillator does not oscillate. Figure 3.1 shows a typical
situation.
In the situation where β ≫ ω0
v " #
2 2
ω 1 ω
q u
0
u
2 0
β 2 − ω0 = β 1 − 2 ≈ β 1 −
t (3.6)
β 2 2β

and we have γ1 = ω02 /2β and γ2 = 2β.

17
18 CHAPTER 3. THE DAMPED OSCILLATOR-II

0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6

x 0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

Figure 3.1:
0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25

x 0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

Figure 3.2:

3.2 Critical Damping.

This corresponds to a situation where β = ω0 and the two roots are equal.
The governing equation is second order and there still are two independent
solutions. The general solution is

x(t) = e−βt [A1 + A2 t] (3.7)

The solution
x(t) = x0 e−βt [1 + βt] (3.8)
is for an oscillator starting from rest at x0 while

x(t) = v0 e−βt t (3.9)

is for a particle starting from x = 0 with speed v0 . Figure 3.2 shows the latter
situation.
Figure 3.3 shows a typical comparision of the three types of damping viz,
underdamped, overdamped and critically damped. Figure 3.4 shows the com-
parision of a critically damped oscillator with an over damped oscillator for
different values of β. One observes that the critically damped oscillator reaches
3.3. SUMMARY 19

x(t) Underdamped
0.25 Critical
0.2 Overdamped
0.15
0.1
0.05

1 2 3 4 5
-0.05 t

Figure 3.3:

the mean position in the smallest possible time. This is the reason that the re-
sistances in seat-shock absorber of vehicles, in sliding doors or in Galvanome-
ters are adjusted to the critically damped condition so that when they are
disturbed they come back to the mean position quickly.

0.2 Critically damped

0.175
0.15 Overdamped
0.125
x(t) 0.1
0.075
0.05
0.025

1 2 3 4 5
t
Figure 3.4:

3.3 Summary
There are two physical effects at play in a damped oscillator. The first is
the damping which tries to bring any motion to a stop. This operates on a
time-scale Td ≈ 1/β. The restoring force exerted by the spring tries to make
the system oscillate and this operates on a time-scale T0 = 1/ω0 . We have
overdamped oscillations if the damping operates on a shorter time-scale com-
pared to the oscillations ie. Td < T0 which completely destroys the oscillatory
behaviour.
Figure 3.5 shows the behaviour of a damped oscillator under different com-
binations of damping and restoring force. The plot is for ω0 = 1, it can be used
for any other value of the natural frequency by suitably scaling the values of β.
20 CHAPTER 3. THE DAMPED OSCILLATOR-II

Overdamped
4
Underdamped γ
2
γ 3

1
000000000Critical
111111111 γ
1
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Figure 3.5:

It shows how the decay rate for the two exponentially decaying overdamped
solutions varies with β. Note that for one of the modes the decay rate tends
to zero as β is increased. This indicates that for very large damping a particle
may get stuck at a position away from equilibrium.

Problems

1. Obtain solution (3.7) for critical damping as a limiting case (β → ω0 ) of

overdamped solution (3.5).

2. Find out the conditions for the initial displacement x(0) and the initial
velocity ẋ(0) at t = 0 such that an overdamped oscillator crosses the
mean position once in a finite time.

3. A door-shutter has a spring which, in the absence of damping, shuts the

door in 0.5s. The problem is that the door bangs with a speed 1m/s
at the instant that it shuts. A damper with damping coefficient β is
introduced to ensure that the door shuts gradually. What are the time
required for the door to shut and the velocity of the door at the instant
it shuts if β = 0.5π and β = 0.9π? Note that the spring is unstretched
when the door is shut. (0.57s, 4.67 × 10−1 m/s; 1.14s, 8.96 × 10−2 m/s)

4. A highly damped oscillator with ω0 = 2 s−1 and β = 104 s−1 is given

an initial displacement of 2 m and left at rest. What is the oscillator’s
position at t = 2 s and t = 104 s? (2.00 m, 2.70 × 10−1 m)

5. A critically damped oscillator with β = 2 s−1 is initially at x = 0 with

velocity 6 m s−1 . What is the furthest distance the oscillator moves from
the origin? (1.10 m)

6. A critically damped oscillator is initially at x = 0 with velocity v0 . What

is the ratio of the maximum kinetic energy to the maximum potential
energy of this oscillator? (e2 )
3.3. SUMMARY 21

7. An overdamped oscillator is initially at x = x0 . What initial velocity, v0 ,

should be given to the oscillator that it reaches the mean position (x=0)
in the minimum possible time.

8. We have shown that the general solution, x(t), with two constants can
describe the motion of damped oscillator satisfying given initial condi-
tions. Show that there does not exist any other solution satisfying the
same initial conditions.