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Measure the car's vertical displacement $y$ from its static equilibrium, so gravity's constant contribution is already balanced. Both the spring and the viscous damper act on motion relative to the wheel. The base-excited oscillator therefore satisfiesFor dimensional clarity write the road profile as $B\sin (qx)$; the printed notation sets the implicit wave number $q=1$ in the chosen length units. Constant forward speed gives forcing angular frequency $\omega =qv$. With complex amplitudes $Y,Y_0$, the steady response isSet $q=1$ for the expression in the question's notation. Assuming $M,k>0$ and $\gamma >0$, the transient response decays, leaving this steady-state response.

For a useful sketch define ${\omega }_n=\sqrt{k/M}$, $r=\omega /{\omega }_n$ and damping ratio $\zeta =\gamma /(2\sqrt{kM})$. The displacement transmissibility isIt starts at $1$, rises to a finite maximum for finite positive damping, crosses $1$ at $r=\sqrt{2}$, then tends to zero. Differentiation with respect to $r^2$ gives the maximum at $r^2=2/[1+\sqrt{1+8{\zeta }^2}]$.

Very small damping permits large resonant oscillations near ${\omega }_n$, producing discomfort and potentially large suspension travel. At exactly zero damping the assumed decay of transients fails, and resonant forcing produces secular growth. Very large damping makes the car follow the bumps over a wide range of speeds, sacrificing vibration isolation: at each fixed forcing frequency, $Y/Y_0\to 1$ as $\gamma \to \infty$. For any fixed finite damping the response still eventually decreases at sufficiently high frequency. These two limits should not be interchanged.

The first mode remains the solution from part (b). The applied force excites only the third mode, sowhere, using $\pi c/l=k$,A particular solution isAdding the decaying complementary solution and imposing the initial conditions gives

As $t\to \infty$, all transients decay but the driven third-mode oscillation remains. The string approaches a periodic steady-state response, rather than coming to rest.

With gravity omitted, its mechanical energy isWriting $s=\alpha /(34k^2)$ and letting $t\to \infty$ givesThe limiting energy is periodic because the external force continually supplies the energy dissipated by drag.

The characteristic equation has roots $-3\pm 4i$, giving the homogeneous solution $e^{-3x}(A\cos 4x+B\sin 4x)$. For the sinusoidal forcing term, $y_p=\sin 5x$ is a particular solution, since its second derivative cancels $25y_p$ and $6y_p^{\prime }=30\cos 5x$. The zero initial displacement gives $A=0$; zero initial derivative gives $4B+5=0$. ThusThe transient response decays as $e^{-3x}$, leaving the steady-state response $\sin 5x$. Near zero, $y(0)=y^{\prime }(0)=0$ and $y^{\prime \prime }(0)=30$, so the sketch starts with $y\sim 15x^2$ and a horizontal tangent line.

Coupled oscillators have more than one collective pattern of motion. For two equal masses $m$, each attached to a fixed support by a spring of stiffness $k$ and linked to each other by stiffness $\kappa$, small displacements obeyHere equal linear damping $b$ is included to make finite steady-state responses at resonance. The normal mode coordinates $q_{+}=(x_1+x_2)/\sqrt{2}$ and $q_{-}=(x_1-x_2)/\sqrt{2}$ diagonalize these equations. Their natural angular frequencies areThe symmetric normal mode leaves the coupling spring unextended; the antisymmetric normal mode stretches it and therefore has the higher frequency. With $F_{\pm }=(F_1\pm F_2)/\sqrt{2}$, their complex steady-state responses areThus the drive's spatial pattern matters as well as its frequency. Equal in-phase forces drive only the symmetric normal mode; opposite forces drive only the antisymmetric one; driving a single mass generally excites both. Finite damping broadens the resonance peaks and produces a phase lag. In the ideal undamped system, a resonant drive with nonzero projection onto a normal mode produces secular growth rather than a bounded resonant steady state.

The displacement of a particular mass adds contributions from both normal modes. They can cancel at an antiresonance. For $F_2=0$ and no damping, $x_1$ vanishes at ${\Omega }^2=(k+\kappa )/m$, while the partner still moves. This differs from the two nearby resonances, where a mode responds strongly; a small measured response need not mean that no motion or stored energy exists elsewhere.

Measure the mass's displacement $x$ from its static equilibrium height. This removes the constant spring extension supporting its weight. If the spring's top moves with the box, its incremental extension is $y_2-x$, so its incremental upward force is $k(y_2-x)$. The specified damping force is against the mass's velocity in the static frame. Newton's second law therefore givesIn absolute height coordinates an additional constant on the right expresses the spring's rest length, its fixed attachment height and gravity; translating to static equilibrium removes it. Replacing the given damping by $-b(\dot{x}-{\dot{y}}_2)$ would describe a different base-excited oscillator.

After the decaying transient, write the steady-state response as $x=A(\omega )\cos (\omega t-\Phi )$. Using a complex sinusoid givessoFor positive frequency, the phase lag lies between zero and $\pi$, passing through $\pi /2$ at ${\omega }_0=\sqrt{k/m}$. For small $b$, the frequency response begins at $a_s$, develops a narrow resonance near ${\omega }_0$, and falls asThe precise amplitude-peak frequency is $\sqrt{k/m-b^2/(2m^2)}$ when that expression is positive.

The pen records the relative displacement $z=x-y_2$. Its complex transfer function isAt high frequency, $x$ is small while $z\simeq -y_2$. The inertial mass then stays nearly stationary and the recorded relative motion reproduces the ground displacement, with reversed sign. At low frequency the mass follows the box and their relative motion is small; near resonance the response is strongly frequency-dependent. Here “high” means compared with the suspension's natural frequency, rather than an absolute seismic-frequency threshold.