Energy ratio between equal-phase damped crossings
ID: energy-ratio-between-equal-phase-damped-crossings
A linearly damped oscillator has , with and . After one damped period , both displacement and velocity are multiplied by . Their quadratic mechanical energy is therefore multiplied exactly by , regardless of the starting phase. In particular successive same-direction equilibrium crossings have this ratio even though potential energy is zero at each. A cosine phase maximum is not exactly a displacement turning point when damping is nonzero.
New to topics? Read the docs here!