Real oscillators do not continue to move forever. They gradually decrease their motion.
This may be good or bad. You may want the sound caused by a piano or a guitar to continue for a while. But you may want the oscillation of your car to stop immediately after going over a bump. That is the purpose of shock absorbers.
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If you give only little pushes to an oscillator -- but ensure that those pushes come at just the right time -- you can still give the oscillator a very large amplitude. A fine example of this is pushing someone on a playground swing. If you give just a small push, but give it at the right time, your friend can still end up swinging very high. This is an example of resonance of a driven harmonic oscillator. |
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Another example of resonance are these carefully matched chime boxes. The the motion of the air caused by the sound from one will cause the other one to vibrate. |
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(C) 2003, Doug Davis; all rights reserved
