Resonance
Consider an undamped system exhibiting simple harmonic motion. In the real world, we never truly have an undamped system; -some damping always occurs. For theoretical purposes, however, we could imagine a spring-mass system contained in a vacuum chamber. With no air resistance, the mass would continue to move up and down indefinitely.
The frequency of the resulting motion, given by
4. In the real world, there is always some damping. However, if the damping force is weak, and the external force is strong enough, real-world systems can still exhibit resonance. One of the most famous examples of resonance is the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on November 7, 1940. The bridge had exhibited strange behavior ever since it was built. The roadway had a strange “bounce” to it. On the day it collapsed, a strong Windstorm caused the roadway to twist and ripple violently. The bridge was unable to withstand these forces and it ultimately collapsed. Experts believe the windstorm exerted forces on the bridge that were very close to its natural frequency, and the resulting resonance ultimately shook the bridge apart.
This website (http://www.openstaxcollege.org/l/20_TacomaNarrow) contains more information about the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
During the short time the Tacoma Narrows Bridge stood, it became quite a tourist attraction. Several people were on site the day the bridge collapsed, and one of them caught the collapse on film. Watch the video (http//www.openstaxcollege.org/l/20_TacomaNarr02) to see the collapse.
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 7 Solutions
Calculus Volume 3
Additional Math Textbook Solutions
Calculus Volume 2
Calculus Volume 1
Introductory Statistics
Thinking Mathematically (6th Edition)
Using & Understanding Mathematics: A Quantitative Reasoning Approach (7th Edition)
Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists
- Algebra & Trigonometry with Analytic GeometryAlgebraISBN:9781133382119Author:SwokowskiPublisher:CengageAlgebra and Trigonometry (MindTap Course List)AlgebraISBN:9781305071742Author:James Stewart, Lothar Redlin, Saleem WatsonPublisher:Cengage Learning