Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Problem Set 2 on Damped Oscillations, Physics of Waves 2025 (Autumn)
Conventions for all the problems in this tutorial: The damping force (or torque) is
dx
Fd = −r ,
dt
where r is called the damping coefficient or damping constant. After simplifying the force
balance equations, we finally arrive at a differential equation for linear (or angular) displacement:
d2 x dx
+ 2β + ω02 x = 0. where r = 2mβ.
dt2 dt
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 r (= 2mβ).
(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
β. 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 critical 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 50 mm 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 mathematical pendulum oscillates in a medium for which the logarithmic damping decre-
ment is equal to λ0 = 1.50. What will be the logarithmic damping decrement if the resistance
of the medium increases n = 2.00 times? How many times has the resistance of the medium
to be increased for the oscillations to become impossible?
6. A thin uniform disc of mass m and radius R suspended by an elastic thread in the horizontal
plane performs torsional oscillations in a liquid. The moment of elastic forces emerging in
the thread is equal to N = αϕ, where α is a constant and ϕ is the angle of rotation from the
equilibrium position. The resistance force acting on a unit area of the disc is equal to F1 =
ηv, where η is a constant and v is the velocity of the given element of the disc relative to the
liquid. Find the frequency of small oscillations.
7. A conductor in the shape of a square frame with side a suspended by an elastic thread is
located in a uniform horizontal magnetic field with induction B. In equilibrium, the plane of
the frame is parallel to the vector B (Fig. 1). Having been displaced from the equilibrium
Figure 1:
position, the frame performs small oscillations about a vertical axis passing through its centre.
The moment of inertia of the frame relative to that axis is equal to I, its electric resistance is
R. Neglecting the inductance of the frame, find the time interval after which the amplitude
of the frame’s deviation angle decreases e-fold.
8. A uniform disc of radius R = 13 cm can rotate about a horizontal axis perpendicular to its
plane and passing through the edge of the disc. Find the period of small oscillations of that
disc if the logarithmic damping decrement is equal to K = 1.00.
