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arXiv · 2411.15588

Addendum: Modeling the amplitude and energy decay of a weakly damped harmonic oscillator using the energy dissipation rate and a simple trick (2025 Eur. J. Phys. 46(1) 015004)

Karlo Lelas·Robert Pezer
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Abstract

We show how to adapt the approach introduced for viscous damping in [1] to derive the approximate amplitude decay in the case of damping by a force of constant magnitude (sliding friction) and in the case of damping by a force proportional to the square of velocity (air resistance). We obtain two first-order differential equations from which we obtain the approximate time-dependent amplitudes corresponding to the considered damping forces. Our approach is suitable for first-year undergraduates, as it relies on the physical concepts and mathematical techniques they are familiar with.

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Karlo Lelas, Robert Pezer. 2024-11-23. Addendum: Modeling the amplitude and energy decay of a weakly damped harmonic oscillator using the energy dissipation rate and a simple trick (2025 Eur. J. Phys. 46(1) 015004). https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.15588

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