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Forced Spring Systems

Part 5: Summary

  1. Explain what is meant by "natural frequency" of a spring system.

  2. What type of solutions do you expect for an unforced and undamped spring-mass system?

  3. What type of solutions do you expect if an undamped system is driven at a frequency different from its natural frequency?

  4. What do you think the word "beats" means -- in the context of a driven spring-mass system?

  5. What does "resonance" mean in the context of a driven spring-mass system? What are its implications for solutions of the differential equation model?

  6. In nature it is seldom the case that two parameters have exactly the same values. What are the practical implications of resonance?

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