"""Free series-RLC charge and energy; Python 3.14, NumPy 2.3.5, Matplotlib 3.10.7. Run from the desired output directory; writes rlc-free-damping.png there. The dimensionless variables are tau=omega0*t, x=q/q0, a=alpha/omega0. """ import matplotlib matplotlib.use("Agg") import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np def response(tau, a): """Return x, dx/dtau, d²x/dtau² for x(0)=1, x'(0)=0.""" tau = np.asarray(tau) if a < 1: b = np.sqrt(1 - a*a) x = np.exp(-a*tau) * (np.cos(b*tau) + a/b*np.sin(b*tau)) v = -np.exp(-a*tau) * np.sin(b*tau)/b acc = np.exp(-a*tau) * (a/b*np.sin(b*tau) - np.cos(b*tau)) elif a == 1: x = (1 + tau)*np.exp(-tau) v = -tau*np.exp(-tau) acc = (tau - 1)*np.exp(-tau) else: b = np.sqrt(a*a - 1) slow, fast = -a+b, -a-b # Two decaying exponentials avoid growing cosh/sinh intermediates. x = ((a+b)*np.exp(slow*tau) - (a-b)*np.exp(fast*tau))/(2*b) v = (np.exp(fast*tau) - np.exp(slow*tau))/(2*b) acc = (fast*np.exp(fast*tau) - slow*np.exp(slow*tau))/(2*b) return x, v, acc def main(): plt.rcParams.update({"font.size": 11, "axes.spines.top": False, "axes.spines.right": False, "figure.facecolor": "white"}) tau = np.linspace(0, 12, 1801) fig, axes = plt.subplots(1, 2, figsize=(10.4, 4.2), layout="constrained") curves = [(0.5, "#2369ad", "Underdamped"), (1.0, "#c46b17", "Critical"), (2.0, "#39804a", "Overdamped")] for a, color, label in curves: x, v, _ = response(tau, a) legend = rf"{label}: $\alpha/\omega_0={a:g}$" axes[0].plot(tau, x, color=color, lw=2.3, label=legend) axes[1].plot(tau, x*x + v*v, color=color, lw=2.3) axes[0].axhline(0, color="#777777", lw=0.8) axes[0].set(title="Charge: oscillation or direct return", ylabel=r"$q/q_0$", ylim=(-0.23, 1.05)) axes[0].legend(fontsize=9, frameon=False) axes[1].set(title="Stored energy always decreases", ylabel=r"$E/E(0)$", ylim=(-0.02, 1.05)) axes[1].text(0.97, 0.91, r"$E/E(0)=x^2+(dx/d\tau)^2$" + "\n" + r"$d[E/E(0)]/d\tau=-4(\alpha/\omega_0)(dx/d\tau)^2$", transform=axes[1].transAxes, ha="right", va="top", fontsize=10) for ax in axes: ax.set(xlim=(0, 12), xlabel=r"Dimensionless time $\tau=\omega_0t$") ax.grid(alpha=0.18) fig.suptitle(r"Free series RLC response: $q(0)=q_0$, $i(0)=0$", fontsize=14) fig.savefig("rlc-free-damping.png", dpi=120, facecolor="white", transparent=False) plt.close(fig) if __name__ == "__main__": main()