Resonance Lab: Driven Oscillators Community
Questions, answers and tips from people who use the Resonance Lab: Driven Oscillators. Shake five springs and masses at different frequencies and see the one whose natural frequency matches swing wildly..
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From the tool guide: common questions about Resonance Lab: Driven Oscillators
The items below are not posts by community members. They come from the written guide for this tool and are here to get a conversation started. Use “Ask a follow-up” to open a thread about any of them.
What is resonance?
Resonance happens when something is pushed at its natural frequency, so each push adds to the motion and the amplitude grows.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upWhy does damping matter?
Damping removes energy every swing. With heavy damping the resonance peak is smaller and flatter, which is why cars have shock absorbers.
From the tool guide Ask a follow-upKey ideas
- Every oscillator has a natural frequency at which it likes to swing.
- Driving it near that frequency makes the swings grow large. This is resonance.
- More damping lowers and widens the resonance peak.
- Off resonance the mass barely moves even if the shaking is strong.
Things to try
- Choose the middle preset and find which mass swings the most.
- Slowly drag the shaking frequency across the graph and watch the masses take turns.
- Raise the damping and see the peaks flatten.
- Set the frequency very high and check that the masses barely move.
Where this is used
Bridges, buildings, musical instruments, radio tuners, MRI machines and swings all depend on resonance, sometimes to be used and sometimes to be avoided.
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