← all cardsTopic 8 · Oscillations · Forced oscillations & resonance
Damping and the response curve
● VERBATIM — examined word-for-wordMore damping → peak lower and broader, at slightly below f₀; resonance amplitude is large but finite — never infinite.
What this actually means
More damping drags the resonance peak lower and broader, and nudges its position slightly below f₀.
The amplitude at resonance is large but always finite: damping caps it. 'Infinite amplitude' is never the answer to anything.
Damping does not PREVENT resonance; it tames it. The peak survives, just lower and wider.
The trap
Claiming resonance amplitude is infinite, or that damping prevents resonance — it only lowers and broadens the peak.
Prove it — watch it be true
- Sweep f_d and trace the response curve at light damping
- Raise the damping and sweep again: lower, broader, peak nudged below f₀
- Note every peak is finite — no setting produces a runaway