Free Oscillations
Free Oscillations
(or natural oscillations), oscillations that occur in a mechanical, electrical, or some other physical system, in the absence of an external influence, owing to the originally accumulated energy (as a result of an initial displacement or initial velocity). The character of free oscillations is determined primarily by the system’s intrinsic parameters, such as mass, inductance, capacitance, or elasticity. In real systems, free oscillations are always damped because of energy dissipation; when the losses are large, the oscillations become aperiodic. (SeeOSCILLATIONS.)