Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Forced Oscillators and Coupled Systems

In course

PHYS-101(j): General physics : mechanics

Le but du cours de physique générale est de donner à l'étudiant les notions de base nécessaires à la compréhension des phénomènes physiques. L'objectif est atteint lorsque l'étudiant est capable de prévoir quantitativement les conséquences de ces phénomène ...

Description

This lecture covers the concepts of forced oscillators and coupled systems. It starts by explaining the linear harmonic oscillator and its forced version, detailing the equations of motion and solutions. The lecture then explores the analogy between mechanical and electrical oscillators, discussing energy analysis and resonance. It delves into the synchronization of coupled oscillators, illustrating examples like Huygens' discovery of synchronization in pendulum clocks. The application of coupled oscillators in real-life scenarios, such as the Taipei 101 tower's damping system, is also discussed. The lecture concludes with a detailed analysis of harmonic oscillators coupled through springs, examining their modes of motion and energy distribution.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructors (2)

Yves Revaz

Yves Revaz is a scientist at LASTRO/EPFL. After successful studies in physics at EPFL, he accomplished his PhD entitled: "Dynamics of external regions of spiral galaxies and constraints on the dark matter", at the Geneva Observatory in the galactic dynamics group of Prof. D. Pfenniger. He then moved to the Paris Observatory to work at the LERMA (Laboratory for Studies of Radiation and Matter in Astrophysics) under the supervision of Prof. F. Combes on the understanding of cooling flows in galaxy clusters. He joined LASTRO at EPFL in 2007, where, in collaboration with Pascale Jablonka, he developed a new TreePM/SPH chemo-dynamical code called GEAR, designed to study the chemical evolution of galaxies. His current main research focus on the evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies and their link with the cosmology. Yves Revaz is also the author of pNbody, a parallelized python toolbox designed to manipulate large N-body systems.

Jean-Paul Richard Kneib

Official source

Related concepts (20)

Oscillation

Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum and alternating current. Oscillations can be used in physics to approximate complex interactions, such as those between atoms.

Electronic oscillator

An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a periodic, oscillating or alternating current (AC) signal, usually a sine wave, square wave or a triangle wave, powered by a direct current (DC) source. Oscillators are found in many electronic devices, such as radio receivers, television sets, radio and television broadcast transmitters, computers, computer peripherals, cellphones, radar, and many other devices.

Harmonic oscillator

In classical mechanics, a harmonic oscillator is a system that, when displaced from its equilibrium position, experiences a restoring force F proportional to the displacement x: where k is a positive constant. If F is the only force acting on the system, the system is called a simple harmonic oscillator, and it undergoes simple harmonic motion: sinusoidal oscillations about the equilibrium point, with a constant amplitude and a constant frequency (which does not depend on the amplitude).

Resonance

Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscillating force is applied at a resonant frequency of a dynamic system, the system will oscillate at a higher amplitude than when the same force is applied at other, non-resonant frequencies. Frequencies at which the response amplitude is a relative maximum are also known as resonant frequencies or resonance frequencies of the system.

Simple harmonic motion

In mechanics and physics, simple harmonic motion (sometimes abbreviated ()) is a special type of periodic motion an object experiences due to a restoring force whose magnitude is directly proportional to the distance of the object from an equilibrium position and acts towards the equilibrium position. It results in an oscillation that is described by a sinusoid which continues indefinitely (if uninhibited by friction or any other dissipation of energy).

Related lectures (30)

Forced Harmonic Oscillator

Explores forced harmonic oscillators, resonance, initial conditions, and collision conservation principles.

Forced Harmonic Oscillator: Resonance Phenomenon

Covers the forced and damped harmonic oscillator, including the harmonic solution and resonance phenomenon.

Forced Harmonic Oscillator

Explores the forced and damped harmonic oscillator, focusing on resonance and initial conditions.

Potential Energy, Mechanical Energy, and Resonance

Covers equilibrium, stability, potential energy, mechanical energy, and resonance phenomena with practical examples.

Harmonic Oscillators: Definitions and Dynamics