damped harmonic motion


damped harmonic motion

[¦dampt har¦män·ik ′mō·shən] (physics) Also known as damped oscillation; damped vibration. The linear motion of a particle subject both to an elastic restoring force proportional to its displacement and to a frictional force in the direction opposite to its motion and proportional to its speed. A similar variation in a quantity analogous to the displacement of a particle, such as the charge on a capacitor in a simple series circuit containing a resistance.