Damped simple harmonic motion

A body or a system having simple harmonic motion is known as simple harmonic oscillator. When simple harmonic oscillator oscillates in vacuum, there is no non-conservative force and the mechanical energy of the oscillator remains constant. Hence the oscillator continues to oscillate with same amplitude forever. When the oscillator oscillates in a medium having force of friction or non-conservative force or dissipative force, in such medium the energy of the oscillator is used to overcome the dissipative force and hence the amplitude of the motion of the oscillator decreases continuously. The decrease in amplitude caused by dissipative force is called damping and the corresponding motion is known as damped simple harmonic motion. When the body vibrates freely in air or in any other medium, the medium offers resistance due to which its amplitude goes on decreasing and ultimately it comes to rest. The decay of the amplitude of the vibrations of the body is called damping and the simple harmonic vibrations whose amplitude decreases with the passage of time are called damped simple harmonic vibrations or motion.

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