Measuring the Damping Constant for Underdamped Harmonic Motion

Abstract

The now widespread use of microcomputers in introductory physics laboratories allows for an addendum to the traditional mass-spring-system experiment that usually culminates with the determination of the spring constant k. A sonic-motion detector can be used to create plots of position, velocity, and acceleration as functions of time and even position versus velocity. Students can then be asked to compare these plots and observe the relationships between the variables. This, however, is only the beginning. The use of features of the data-collection software allows for further and even more informative analysis.