Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge / 2018 / Paper 2 / Section B / B6 / a / Solution

Substituting $x=A{e}^{pt}$ into the damped harmonic oscillator equation givesFor nonnegative viscous damping, the cases areThe PDF's request to express these conditions in terms of $\gamma /m$ is dimensionally inconsistent with its definition $\gamma =b/m$: $\gamma$ already has units ${\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. With the unnormalised equation $m\ddot{x}+b\dot{x}+kx=0$, the equivalent comparisons are $b/m\gtrless 2{\omega }_0$, or $b^2\gtrless 4mk$. Also ${\omega }_0$ is the undamped natural angular frequency, not in general the driven displacement peak.