Chapter 2: Driven Oscillators and Resonance

Table of contents
1 Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Driven Oscillators

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

3 Power Delivered to Driven Oscillators

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4 Driven Oscillators and the Quality Factor Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

5 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.1 Some Important Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.2 Symbols, Names, and Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6.3 Equation Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
7 Example Problems with Solutions

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10

1 Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter the student should, among other things, be able to do the following.
1. Write down the net force that acts on a damped oscillator driven by a harmonic force.
2. Derive the dierential equation describing the motion of a damped driven oscillator.
3. Derive and use the expression for the amplitude (as a function of driving frequency) of a damped driven
oscillator.
4. Discuss the key features of the amplitude (as a function of driving frequency) of a damped driven oscillator.
5. Derive and use the expression for the average power (as a function of driving frequency) delivered to
damped driven oscillator.
6. Discuss the key features of the average power (as a function of driving frequency) delivered to a damped
driven oscillator.
7. Discuss the phenomenon of resonance and some applications related to the resonance phenomenon.

2 Driven Oscillators
To maintain motion in a macroscopic oscillator energy must be provided to the oscillator to replace the energy lost
by damping. When this is done we say that the oscillator is driven by an external force. See Figure 1. The
external force could have any form but we will model the eects of a harmonic (oscillatory) driving force of the
form
~Driving = F0 cos(
t) x^
F
1

(1)

Section 2

+x

x=0

b
m

F0 cos(
t)
Figure 1. Driven, damped harmonic oscillator.

Here F0 is the amplitude of the driving force and

(capital omega) is the frequency of the driving force. The
net force on the object at the end of the spring is then the sum of the spring force, the damping force, and the driving force. Newton's second law applied in the x-direction yields
Fnet;x = m ax
dx
d2x
s x b
+ F0 cos(
t) = m 2
dt
dt
d2x
dx
F0
2
+
+! x=
cos(
t)
dt2
dt
m

(2)

where, as in Chapter 1, = b/m and ! 2 = s/m.

In addition to the mechanical system considered here the mathematics of driven damped oscillators describes
driven RLC circuits, optical cavities, some types of interactions of the electromagnetic waves with atoms and
molecules and many other phenomena. A trial solution to Equation 2 can be written as,
x(t) = xH (t) + Ass cos(
t + 'ss )

(3)

where xH (t), is the general solution to the dierential equation of Eq. (2) when there is no driving force. That
is, xH (t) satises the so-called homogeneous dierential equation,
d2xH
dxH
+
+ ! 2xH = 0
dt2
dt
This is of course the dierential equation governing damped harmonic motion dealt with in Chapter 1. Therefore
xH is one of the solutions
xH (t) = C+e+ t + Cet
>2!
( /2)t
xH (t) = A e
cos(!d t + ') < 2 !
xH (t) = (A + B ! t) e!t
=2!

(4)

To nd the full solution to Eq. (2) we insert Eq. (3) into (2) and nd,
d2xH
dxH
F0
+
+ ! 2xH
2 Ass cos(
t + 'ss )
Asssin(
t + 'ss) + ! 2 Ass cos(
t + 'ss) =
cos(
t)
dt2
dt
m
F
0
0
2 Ass cos(
t + 'ss)
Asssin(
t + 'ss) + ! 2 Ass cos(
t + 'ss) =
cos(
t)
m

(5)

Now we wish to nd Ass and 'ss which are not undetermined constants. (The requisite two undetermined constants already appear in xH ). One strategy of proceeding involves expanding the sin and cos functions on the lefthand-side of Eq. (5) as,
cos(
t + 'ss) = cos(
t) cos('ss) sin(
t) sin('ss )
sin(
t + 'ss) = sin(
t) cos('ss) + cos(
t) sin('ss)

Driven Oscillators

Using these in Eq. (5) and regrouping gives,

Ass f(! 2
2) cos('ss)
sin('ss)g cos(
t) + Assf(
2 !2) sin('ss)
cos('ss )gsin(
t) =
=(F0 /m) cos(
t)
Equating coecients of cos(
t) and sin(
t) leads to,
f(! 2
2) cos('ss )
sin('ss)gAss = F0 /m
f(
2 ! 2) sin('ss )
cos('ss)gAss = 0

(6)
(7)

Eq. (7) gives,


tan'ss =

! 2
2

(8)

Now, knowing the tangent of an angle allows for the construction of its sine and cosine via examination of the following gure,
p
(
)2 + (! 2
2)2
'ss

!2
2
Figure 2. Construction triangle for use in simplifying Eqs. (6) and (7).

That is,

( 2
2 + (
2 ! 2)2)1/2
!2
2
cos('ss) = 2 2
(
+ (
2 ! 2)2)1/2

sin('ss) =

Using these in Eq. (6) gives

(

)
(! 2
2)2 + 2
2
F
Ass
= 0
m
( 2
2 + (
2 !2)2)1/2
F0 /m
Ass = 2 2
(
+ (
2 !2)2)1/2
Summarizing, then, the general form for the displacement of a damped driven oscillator can be written as,
x(t) = xH (t) + Ass cos(
t + 'ss)
where,
1/2
1
(! 2
2)2 + 2
2



'ss = tan 1 2
!
2

Ass =

F0
m

(9)
(10)

and xH is given by Eq. (4).

Now, xH is sometimes called the transient solution since it fades away over time while the second term is the
steady state solution since it remains for long times. The subscript ss is meant to indicate steady state. So
after a long enough time (roughly 3 (1 / )) the motion of the oscillator is well represented by the last term. That
is, the steady state solution is
xss (t) = Ass cos(
t + 'ss )

(11)

Section 2

with the parameters as given by Equations 9 and 10. There are several noteworthy features of this steady state
solution. These are:


In steady state a driven damped oscillator oscillates at the frequency

of the driving force not the natural
frequency ! of the oscillator.

In steady state the motion of the oscillator is not in step with the driving force unless there is no damping.
(Mathematically this statement is 'ss =
/ 0; unless = 0.)

The amplitude of the steady state motion of the driven damped oscillator
depends strongly on the relationp
ship of the driving force frequency
to the natural frequency ! = k /m of the oscillator. The largest
amplitude of oscillation occurs near
= !. The eect is known as resonance and the natural
frequency ! is sometimes called the resonant frequency.

Actually the maximum amplitude occurs when

peak =

p
! 2 2 /2

(12)

but for a very lightly damped system it is the case that  ! so that
 !. The amplitude of the steady state
oscillations as a function of driving frequency for a very lightly damped driven oscillator is shown below,
0.4

=/100
=/10

Staedy Stae Amplitude (m)

0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
40

45

50

55

60

Driving Frequency (rad/s)

Figure 3. Steady state amplitude as a function of driving frequency. The plot was done using F0 = 10 N; m =
1 kg and ! = 50 /s. Note that for small damping the response is narrow and the peak amplitude is large. Notice also
that the peak occurs at the natural frequency of the oscillator.

For very light damping the maximum amplitude occurs when the driving frequency is equal to the resonant natural frequency of the oscillator. At this frequency the amplitude is
Apeak 

F0 1
m !

(13)

This should be compared to the eectiveness of moving the spring using a constant force (
= 0). In that limit the
steady state displacement of the spring is only,
Aconstant force =

F0 1
m !2

(14)

The resonance peak amplitude is a factor of ! / larger than the displacement caused by a constant force of the
same magnitude. For low damping ! / can be a very large factor. Low damping leads to a large resonant
amplitude. Another important feature of the amplitude response curve shown in Figure 3 is the range of driving
frequencies over which the resonance amplication eect is signicant. This range is sometimespdenoted

and
dened to be the range of driving frequencies over which the amplitude is greater than Apeak / 2  0.707 Apeak.
One can show that for a very lightly damped oscillator




(15)

Power Delivered to Driven Oscillators

The width of the resonance response curve is narrower for smaller damping. Radios pick up electromagnetic waves through a resonance phenomenon. There are circuits in the radio that can be tuned to have frequencies that match the frequency of the incoming electromagnetic radio wave (say 88.5 MHz). If a circuit is
built with a large amplitude resonant response, that circuit will also have a narrow resonant response. Better
reception requires more precise tuning.
When we say that an oscillator has a natural frequency we tend to mean that the oscillator has a means of oscillating with low damping at a particular frequency. The fact that a natural frequency has low damping associated
with it suggest two ways to determine the natural frequencies of an object:


One can vary the frequency of a driving force until large amplitude motion occurs. The frequency at which
the large amplitude motion occurs is a natural frequency of the object.

One could bang an object and wait to see which frequencies of oscillation last the longest. The natural frequencies have less damping (often caused by opposing forces within the object) and so tend to last longer.

3 Power Delivered to Driven Oscillators

In steady state the average rate of energy delivery (i.e the power delivery) to the oscillator is negated by the
average power dissipated by the damping mechanism. In Chapter 1 (See Equation (28) of Chapter 1), I showed
that the rate of energy dissipation in an oscillator is given by
dE
 Pdiss = b vx2
dt

(16)

In steady state the x-component of the velocity of the mass on the spring is,
vx;ss =
so that

dxss
= A ss
sin(
t + 'ss)
dt

(17)

Pdiss = b
2 A2ss sin2(
t + 'ss)
One typically talks about the average power dissipated or delivered in each cycle of the oscillator. That is,
1
hPdiss i = b
2 A2sshsin2(
t + 'ss )i = b
2 A2ss
2
1
F2
1
hPdiss i = b
2 02 2
2
m (!
2)2 + 2
2
2
1F
2
2
hPdiss i = 0 2
2 b (!
2)2 + 2
2

(18)

Here, the angled brackets hi denote a time average taken over one period T = 2  /
and formally is dened by,
Z
1 t0 +T
hf (t)i =
f (t) dt
T t0
In the development leading to Eq. (18) I used the relation below
Z
1 t0 +T 2
1
hsin2(
t + 'ss)i =
sin (
t + 'ss ) dt =
T t0
2
In addition to performing the integration above one can see that hsin2(
t + 'ss )i = 1/ 2 by examination of a plot of
the sin2 function which indicates that sin2(
t + 'ss ) oscillates between 0 and 1 and has an average value of 1/2
over any cycle. Further, in the last step leading to Eq. (18) I used the relation m = b / to eliminate m in favor of
and b. In steady state the time rate of change of the energy of the oscillator averaged over one cycle is zero so
that,
hPdeli + hPdissi = hPtotali = 0
hPdeli = hPdissi
1 F02
2
2
hPdeli =
2
2 b (!
2)2 + 2
2

(19)

Section 3

This is one of the central results of this chapter. The average power delivered has the form of a Lorentzian function. One often regards the average power delivered as being a function of the variable driving frequency
. This
function peaks at
= ! and has a full width at half-maximum FWHM of . That is,
1 F02
at
= !
2 b
FWHM =

(20)

hPdelimax =

(21)

Below I plot a generic hPdeli vs

curve followed by two curves illustrating the eect, on the average power delivered, of changing the damping parameter.

F02
2b
hPdeli

1 F02
2 2b

Figure 4. Average power delivered as a function of

. The function peaks at
= ! and the FWHM is .

0.05
0.045

= 10/s

0.04
0.035

hPdeli (W)

0.03
0.025
0.02
0.015

= 20/s

0.01
0.005
0
60

80

100

120

140

Figure 5. The average power delivered as a function of driving frequency. For both curves ! = 100/ s, m = 1 kg and
F0 = 1 N. For the solid curve b = 10 kg/s; = 10/s. For the dashed curve b = 20 kg/s; = 20/s.

Note that the peak power delivered is inversely proportional to and the width of the average power delivered
response curve response curve is proportional to . High power can be delivered on resonance (
= !) for oscillators with low damping but, for oscillators with low damping, the large resonant response occurs only over a narrow
range of driving frequencies.

Summary

4 Driven Oscillators and the Quality Factor Q

The quality factor Q of an oscillator is dened as,
Q = !/

(22)

This factor is a useful descriptor of driven oscillators since as shown in the preceding sections,
Ass(
= !) !
= =Q
Ass(
= 0)

(23)

and for an oscillator of given resonant frequency the average power delivered on resonance is proportional to Q
while the FWHM of the average power delivered response curve is inversely proportional to Q.

5 Discussion
Resonance is a boon to long distance communications since it allows very small signals to have large eects at the
receiving end. Resonance eects are also crucial in the detection of small signals of any kind (pollutants in the
atmosphere etc...). Resonance effects can also be harmful...unwanted large amplitude vibrations can occur in
mechanical systems (Tacoma Narrows Bridge!) and electromagnetic systems (interference in radio signals).

6 Summary
6.1 Some Important Statements


In steady state a driven damped oscillator oscillates at the frequency

of the driving force not the natural
frequency ! of the oscillator.

In steady state the motion of the oscillator is not in step with the driving force unless there is no damping.
(Mathematically this statement is 'ss =
/ 0; unless = 0.)

The amplitude of the steady state motion of the driven damped oscillator
depends strongly on the relationp
ship of the driving force frequency
to the natural frequency ! = k /m of the oscillator. The largest
amplitude of oscillation occurs near
= !. The eect is known as resonance and the natural
frequency ! is sometimes called the resonant frequency.

The average power delivered to an oscillator is maximum when the driving frequency is equal to the natural
frequency of the oscillator
= !.

The peak value of the average power delivered to an oscillator is inversely proportional to the damping rate
.

The range of frequencies over which the average power delivered is nearly maximum is proportional to the
damping rate . (FWHM = ).

6.2 Symbols, Names, and Units

Name

Symbol Value/Units

DampingRate

1/s

Damping parameter

kg/s

Driving Frequency

1/s

Resonant or Natural Frequency

1/s

Steady State Amplitude

Ass

Steady State Position as Function of Time

xss

Steady State Phase Factor

'ss

unitless

Average Power Delivered

hPdeli

Full-Width at Half-Max of hPdeli

FWHM

1/s

Amplitude of Driving Force

F0

Driving Force as Function of Time

FD

Quality Factor

unitless

Section 7

6.3 Equation Summary

Name
Steady State Position
Steady State Amplitude
Steady State Phase
Average Power Delivered

Equation

Comment

xss = Ass cos(

t + 'ss )


1/2
F
1
Ass = 0
2
2
2
2
2
m (!
) +




'ss = tan1 2
!
2

Oscillates at driving frequency

hPdeli =

1 F02
2
2
2 b (! 2
2)2 + 2
2

Quality Factor

Resonance!

Resonance!

Q =!/

Maximum Power Delivered

hPdelimax =

FWHM

1 F02
2 b

at
= !

FWHM =

7 Example Problems with Solutions

Problem 1. Consider a driven oscillator with
! = 400 rad/s F0 = 2 N m = 0.5 kg
Plot the amplitude of the steady state motion as a function of driving frequency
if the Q of the oscillator is
a) 0.5) = ! / Q = ! /0.5 = 2 ! = 800 rad /s
b) 2 ) = ! / Q = ! /2 = 200 rad/s
c) 5 ) = ! / Q = ! /5 = 80 rad/s
d) 10 ) = ! / Q = ! /10 = 40 rad/s
Plot a) and b) on the same graph and plot c) and d) on the same graph.
The function to be plotted is
F0 /m
4 N/kg
Ass = p
=p
2
2
2
2
2
2
(
! ) +

(
(400/s)2 2
2

3 104

a) = 800 rad/s
b) =200 rad/s
c) = 80 rad/s

2 104

Ass (m)

d) =40 rad/s

104

0
0

200

400

600
(rad/s)

800

1000

Example Problems with Solutions

Problem 2. Consider a driven oscillator with

! = 100 rad/s F0 = 1 N m = 0.5 kg
Plot the average power delivered to the oscillator in steady state motion as a function of driving frequency
if the
Q of the oscillator is
a) 0.5 ) = ! / Q = ! /0.5 = 2 ! = 200 rad/s

b) 2 ) = ! / Q = ! /2 = 50 rad/s

c) 5 ) = ! / Q = ! /5 = 20 rad /s

d) 10 ) = ! / Q = ! /10 = 10 rad/s

Plot a) and b) on the same graph and plot c) and d) on the same graph.
The function to be plotted is
F02
2
2
F02
2
2
=
2
2
2
2
2
2 b (
! ) +

2 (m ) (
2 !2)2 + 2
2
F2
2
2
1 N2/kg
2
2
hPdeli = 0
=
2
2
2
2
2
2
2 b (
! ) +

(
(400/s)2)2 + 2
2
hPdeli =

0.1
a) =200 rad/s
0.08

b) =50 rad/s

0.06

d) =10 rad/s

Pdel (W)

c) =20 rad/s

0.04

0.02

0
0

100

200

300

(rad/s)

Problem 3.
A) Describe two ways to experimentally determine the resonant frequency(ies) of an object.
1. Bang the object. The frequencies of the oscillation modes that last the longest are the resonant frequencies (low damping modes) of the object.
2. Drive the oscillator with harmonic forces of dierent frequencies. The frequencies that lead to the largest
amplitude motion are the resonant frequencies.
B) Describe the role that the damping parameter gamma plays in determining the height and width of the
average power delivered vs driving frequency plot.
Decreasing increases the height and decreases the width of the average power delivered vs driving frequency plot.
Problem 4. Are the resonant frequencies of apartment house (or dorm-room) walls the same as high pitched or
low pitched musical notes. Explain!
Answer : You may have noticed that you can best hear the low pitched notes of a stereo in the room next-door.
This indicates that the walls shake best at the frequencies of the low pitched notes.
Problem 5. A driven oscillator has a resonant frequency of 1000 rad/s and a damping rate of 50/s. When the
frequency of the harmonic driving force is 1000 rad/s the average power delivered to the oscillator is 1 W. What
will be the average power delivered to the oscillator when the frequency of the driving force is
A) 950 rad/s?
B) 1050 rad/s?
C) 800 rad/s?
D) 2000 rad/s?

10

Section

In general:
hPdeli =
From the given information

F02
2
2
2
2 b (
! 2)2 + 2
2

hPdeli
=! = 1 W=

F02
F2
(1) ) 0 =1 W
2b
2b

F02
2
2
502  9502
= (1 W)
= 0.192 W
2
2
2
2
2
2
2 b (
! ) +

(950 10002)2 + 502 9502

502  10502
B) hPdeli
=1050/s = (1 W)
= 0.208 W
(10502 10002)2 + 502 10502
2
2
50  800
C) hPdeli
=800/s = (1 W)
= 0.0122 W
(8002 10002)2 + 502 8002
2
2
50  2000
D) hPdeli
=2000/s = (1 W)
= 0.00111 W
(20002 10002)2 + 502 20002
A) hPdeli
=950/s =

Index
average power delivered . . . . . . . .
driven oscillation . . . . . . . . . . . .
driving force . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
full width at half-maximum, FWHM
general solution . . . . . . . . . . . . .
homogeneous dierential equation . .

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1
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6
2
2

quality factor . . . . .
resonance . . . . . . .
resonant frequency . .
steady state solution .
transient solution . . .
width of the resonance

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