What happens to the frequency of a damped oscillator as damping increases?
Practice Questions
Q1
What happens to the frequency of a damped oscillator as damping increases?
Frequency increases
Frequency decreases
Frequency remains the same
Frequency becomes zero
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What happens to the frequency of a damped oscillator as damping increases?
Correct Answer: Frequency decreases.
Step 1: Understand what a damped oscillator is. It is a system that oscillates (moves back and forth) but loses energy over time due to damping forces like friction.
Step 2: Recognize that damping can be thought of as a force that slows down the motion of the oscillator.
Step 3: Know that the frequency of an oscillator is how often it completes one full cycle of motion in a given time.
Step 4: Realize that when damping increases, it means there is more force acting against the motion of the oscillator.
Step 5: Understand that this increased damping force makes the oscillator move more slowly, which means it takes longer to complete each cycle.
Step 6: Conclude that as the time taken for each cycle increases, the frequency (which is the number of cycles per second) decreases.
