Past exam of the mathematical methods I course of the University of Oxford 2015 11 Solution 2026-10-25
For a sinusoidal drive of variable positive angular frequency, the average absorbed power is proportional toIt peaks at . The absorbed-power bandwidth of a viscously damped oscillator is the separation of its half-power frequencies: solving givesThe usual quality factor is . Large means a narrow response band relative to the resonant frequency. The post-drive motion has amplitude envelope , connecting a narrow bandwidth to a long ringdown. For weak damping, the cycle-averaged energy decays as and is also times stored energy divided by the energy lost per cycle. The exact instantaneous energy has an oscillatory factor, so this cycle interpretation uses the weak-damping approximation.
Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge 2011 Paper 1 Section B B6 Solution 2026-10-20
The restoring, damping and electric forces on the electron give . Dividing by gives a Lorentz oscillator model withFor the convention, substitute . Then andThe time-averaged dissipated power isFor positive frequency the squared term is minimized to zero only at . Thus the power maximum is exactly at the undamped natural frequency, even though the displacement maximum is slightly shifted. Here . The half-power equation is , whose two positive roots areThis is the absorbed-power bandwidth of a viscously damped oscillator, exact within the model. Near resonance the profile is approximately a Lorentzian line shape. With ,For this wavelength linewidth of a damped-oscillator power resonance we used . The half-power wavelength endpoints are not exactly symmetric around , although that distinction is tiny here.
In a constant field the settled displacement is . On sudden removal, with zero initial velocity, the free motion isThe electron oscillates about its original equilibrium, losing the previously stored spring energy. The period is , the amplitude decay time is , and the cycle-averaged energy decay time is . This is the effective classical model supplied, not a prediction of the full hydrogen line radiation spectrum.
The Q factor measures stored energy relative to loss: , or in the weak-loss limit. For viscous damping , write , and . The conventional oscillator parameter isIn free ringdown, fit the amplitude envelope . Its decay time is , whereas the cycle-averaged energy envelope decays on ; thus . Equivalently the logarithmic decrement between same-sign peaks is . It gives for weak damping, or the exact parameter relation . Fit multiple peaks above the noise floor, measure the damped period, and verify an exponential envelope rather than assuming all amplitude loss is viscous.
For a driven measurement, allow transients to settle and scan frequency at fixed force amplitude. Near resonance and at high , the response is Lorentzian in displacement power, with half-power points at displacement amplitudes of the maximum. Their angular-frequency separation gives . Halving the amplitude is not a half-power criterion.
The absorbed-power bandwidth of a viscously damped oscillator can be found exactly. Sinceits maximum is at , and the half-power frequencies satisfy . HenceFor broad resonances, displacement and absorbed-power peaks differ, so the measured observable must be specified. Frequency-dependent drive, backgrounds or several overlapping modes can otherwise masquerade as a changed Q factor.
