Past exam of the physics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2021 / Section B / 8 / e / Solution

Write $\gamma =b/(2m)$ and $\nu =\sqrt{{\omega }^2-{\gamma }^2}$, where $\omega =\sqrt{k/m}$ is the undamped angular frequency. The linear drag gives the vector damped harmonic oscillator equationFor the original circular initial conditions, ${\mathbf{r}}_0=(c,c)$ and ${\mathbf{v}}_0=\omega (-c,c)$, the exact underdamped solution isUsing $|{\mathbf{r}}_0{|}^2=2c^2$, $|{\mathbf{v}}_0{|}^2=2{\omega }^2{c}^2$ and ${\mathbf{r}}_0\cdot {\mathbf{v}}_0=0$ givesThis exact potential energy is useful because it satisfies the prescribed initial conditions, including $\dot{U}(0)=k{\mathbf{r}}_0\cdot {\mathbf{v}}_0=0$. In the stated weak-damping limit $\gamma \ll \omega$, $\nu \simeq \omega$ and the square bracket differs from one by a small oscillatory term. The leading approximation is thereforeThe radius is approximately $\sqrt{2}c{e}^{-bt/(2m)}$, so the trajectory is approximately a shrinking logarithmic spiral. The exactly exponential result would require slightly adjusted initial velocity; with the specified undamped circular velocity, the small modulation above is real. This is the initially circular damped planar oscillator.