Analyzing a Damped Harmonic Oscillator

Q1. Consider a mechanical system in which a mass is attached to a spring. This system exhibits
harmonic oscillations, but it is also damped due to friction. The equation of motion for this system is
given by:

�2 � ��
� 2 + � �� + �� = 0
��
where:
� is the mass of the object.
� is the damping coefficient.
� is the spring constant.
�(�) is the position of the object as a function of time t.
Analyse the motion of the system over time.
Soution:
To analyze this, we will apply the continuous Fourier transform.
The Fourier transform is a powerful tool for analyzing the frequency components of a signal. In this
case, we want to find the frequency components in the motion of the damped harmonic oscillator.
To start, let's assume that the motion of the oscillator can be described as �(�), which is a function of
time.
We first need to take the Fourier transform of �(�). The Fourier transform �(�) is defined as:
∞
�� = �(�)�−�2�����
−∞

Where:
�(�) is the Fourier transform of �(�).
� is the frequency.
Now, let's apply this to our damped harmonic oscillator problem. We'll assume that �(�) represents
the position of the oscillator as a function of time.
1. Start with the equation of motion:

�2 � ��
� 2 + � + �� = 0
�� ��
2. Take the Fourier transform of both sides:
∞ ∞ ∞
�2 � −�2��� �� −�2���
� 2� �� + � � �� + � � � �−�2����� = 0
−∞ �� −∞ �� −∞

3. Now, use properties of the Fourier transform. The Fourier transform of a derivative is given by:
��
� �(�) = �2�� � �(�)
���
So, our equation becomes:

� �2�� 2 � � + � �2�� � � + �� � = 0
4. Now, Solve for � � :
1
� � = 2
� �2�� + � �2�� + �
5. This expression for �(�) is the Fourier transform of the position �(�) of the damped harmonic
oscillator. It gives you the frequency components of the motion. You can analyze this expression to
understand how the system responds to different frequencies.
This mathematical solution allows you to find the frequency components of the damped harmonic
oscillator's motion using the continuous Fourier transform. It can help you understand the behaviour
of the system in the frequency domain, which is valuable in various engineering and physics
applications.