IB Physics SL C.4.6 Types of damping
IB Physics SL C.4.6 Types of damping
Practise recognising critically and lightly damped motion from displacement-time graphs and linking each pattern to how quickly oscillations die away.
How this is tested
- interpret a displacement-time graph to pick critical damping: fastest return to equilibrium with no overshoot
- draw or choose the critically damped curve after release, ensuring displacement reaches zero without crossing it
- distinguish light damping from critical damping by judging whether oscillations persist and how frequency changes