Q.What is resonance? Explain, in qualitative terms, why the amplitude of a forced oscillation becomes very large when the driving frequency is close to the natural frequency of the system. Give two everyday examples of resonance.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Resonance is the special case of forced oscillation in which the driving frequency is equal to, or very nearly equal to, the system's own natural frequency .
In an ordinary forced oscillation with far from , the external force and the system's own natural motion are not synchronised, so over successive cycles the force sometimes adds energy to the motion and sometimes removes it, and only a modest steady amplitude builds up. But when , the external force arrives in step with the system's own natural rhythm at every single cycle -- pushing in the same direction the system is already moving, at exactly the right moments -- so it keeps adding energy to the oscillation in exactly the right phase, cycle after cycle, without ever working against the motion. As a result, the amplitude of oscillation grows to a value far larger than the same force could produce at any other driving frequency (limited only by whatever damping is present in the real system). …
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