General Physics I

2025 Fall Semester for Physics Major

Lecture 9: Forced Harmonic Oscillation and Resonance

Daw-Wei Wang
Physics Department NTHU
(I) Why do We Study a Forced Harmonic Oscillator ?
1. When we consider a physical system, 2. From work-energy point of view, we can separate the contribute
it is in general composed of three parts: of work in three parts: external+internal+dissipation:
3. External We keep only
the conservative
2. Dissipation to Operation
force of the
the environment (controllable)
1. system internal part.
(uncontrollable)
Output
Performance Here 𝑊 is the work done on the system by
the environment. 𝐻 is the heat generated by the
system and transferred to the environment.
3. We can define the internal energy of the system:

4. For a system returning to its original state after a cycle, 𝐸 =

𝐸 , we must have 𝑊 = 𝐻 , which is exactly the 1st Law of
thermodynamics. We will see that a forced harmonic oscillator is
just the simplest model system interacting with the environment.
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(II) The Regular and Particular Solutions of the EoM
1. We may consider a SHO with a drag 3. The regular solution 𝑥 is nothing but the
force due to the friction with a fluid. But it same form as damped harmonic oscillator.
is experienced by an external field, so that
the equation of motion can be written as:
4. The particular solution, 𝑥 (𝑡),
therefore, has no fitting parameter at all.
We will concentrate how to solve it later.
3. External
1. system 2. Dissipation to Operation
the environment
2. This is an inhomogeneous
ODE, which means that we have 5. The two free parameters (𝑨 and 𝜶)
to separate the solution into have to be defined by matching the
regular and particular parts: initial condition of the whole solution
(not just regular part), i.e.

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(III) Solve the Particular Solution by Fourier Transform
1. We first assume that any external force, 𝒇 𝒕 = 3. This kernel equation
𝑭(𝒕)/𝒎, can be expressed by Fourier transform: must be true for all 𝜔,
and hence we must have
We will show how to get
𝐹 from a given 𝑓(𝑡) later.
4. The particular solution must be proportional to the
external forces for each Fourier component at 𝜔
 Each component is independent to each other.
These solutions are eigenmodes of the system.
2. Similarly, we also assume
the particular solution, 5. The “denominator” above is nothing but Fourier
𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒕 (𝒕) can be also expressed expression of the operator, Frequency domain
𝑂, of the ODE, i.e. (𝑂 ,𝐹 , 𝑋 etc.)
by Fourier transform as:
Inserting these expressions, we have Fourier Inverse
transform Fourier
transform
 the ODE can be
more easily solved in Time domain
the frequency domain (𝑂, 𝑓(𝑡), 𝑥(𝑡) etc.)
rather than time domain.
(IV) Remarks about the Phases
1. The phase of 𝑮𝝎 ? 2. The phase of 𝑭𝝎 is also an odd function of 𝝎
(1) By definition, if 𝐺 = 𝐺 𝑒 , we have (1) We can start from the real function, 𝑓 𝑡 ≡ 𝐹(𝑡)/𝑚

(2) Therefore,
Changing the dummy
variable, 𝜔 → −𝜔
(2) Since 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑓 𝑡 ∗ , we must have 𝐹 = 𝐹 ∗ .
(3) If we write, by definition, 𝐹 ≡ 𝐹 𝑒

We can see that the amplitude, |𝐺 |, is an even

function of 𝜔, while the phases, 𝛾 is an odd Therefore, we can generalize this result: For any physical
function. It is because of the definition of Fourier quantity, which must be a real function, ℎ 𝑡 = ℎ 𝑡 ∗ , its
transform, 𝒆 𝒊𝝎𝒕 : 𝒊 and 𝝎 are always coupled, so Fourier transform, 𝐻 = Re 𝐻 + 𝑖Im[𝐻 ], must
that when 𝒊 → −𝒊 , we can restore everything by have Re 𝐻 = Re[𝐻 ] and Im 𝐻 = −Im[𝐻 ]
𝝎 → −𝝎. Therefore, 𝑮∗𝝎 = 𝑮 𝝎
 (V) Complete Form of the Particular Solution
1. Transfer the results in the frequency domain back to [Link], after putting all the expression above, we
the original time domain, we have have

=0
2. However, this may be confusing because 𝑥 (𝑡) is
known to be a real function, while the integral seems to Here 𝜙 and 𝛾 are odd functions of 𝜔, and 𝐹 is an even
be a complex one. In order to verify it, we should function of 𝜔, so that the imaginary part is zero.
separate the amplitude and phases of 𝐹 = |𝐹 |𝑒 5. Finally, we have
3. Similarly, we can define 𝐺 = |𝐺 | 𝑒 , where
(VI) Resonance: The Frequency-Dependent Enhancement of Response
1. The full solution should include both regular and 2. We can see that the output, 𝑥(𝑡), has been
particular solutions: manipulated by the external input, 𝐹 (or say 𝑓(𝑡)),
where the unknown parameters, 𝐴 and 𝛼, have to be through a gain function, 𝑮 𝝎 . This gain function is
determined by the initial conditions: 𝑥(0) and 𝑣(0). determined solely on the internal structure of the
system, if only we could manipulate it.

2. In the long time limit, the regular part, 𝒙𝒓𝒆𝒈 (𝒕),

decays to zero and only the particular solution exists. 𝛿=𝜆
Note that the gain
for each frequency,
𝝎, is independent,
reflecting why we
need to study this
Manipulated External problem in another
Output Input (frequency) space.

Here we define
the Gain function:
 (VII) Daily Examples of Resonance

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(VIII) The Resonance in Music
1. Instrument is a system to manipulate the simple wave
signals from a string to a music melody we hear through
the resonance of its resonant body. Different shape of
material of the instruments will lead to different gain
function 𝑮 𝝎 , and hence different sound wave even for
the same input frequency from the string.

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(IX) Appendix: Numerical Approach to Study Dynamics-1
1. Describe your comments logically, including
(1) Your motivation
(2) The clear equation to simulate
(3) Major outputs or results you want to see
(4) Known conditions or constrains for this task
(5) Additional requests for your convenience
(X) Appendix: Numerical Approach to Study Dynamics-2

We can see that

(1) The oscillation

becomes a harmonic
motion after long time, as
expected for particular
solution with the external
frequency, 𝜔, not the
natural frequency 𝜔 = 1.

(2) The amplitude

becomes largest as 𝜔 =
𝜔 = 1 (i.e. peruid, 𝑇 =
2𝜋/𝜔 = 2𝜋)
(XI) Appendix: Numerical Approach to Study Dynamics-3
(XII) Summary of Important Concepts
1. System Model and Energy Conservation: Any physical system can be conceptualized as having three
components: the system itself, dissipation to the environment, and an external operation..
2. Equation of Motion for Forced Oscillation: By adding a fluid friction (drag) force and an external driving force
to a simple harmonic oscillator (SHO), we get the equation of motion for a forced oscillator. This is classified as an
inhomogeneous ordinary differential equation (ODE).
3. Structure of the Solution: The complete solution to this equation consists of two parts: the regular solution and
the particular solution. The regular solution has the same form as a damped harmonic oscillator, while the particular
solution is determined entirely by the external force with no fitting parameters.
4. Fourier Transform Method: To solve for the particular solution, the Fourier transform is used to convert the
problem from the time domain into the frequency domain. This technique transforms the complex differential
equation into a much simpler algebraic equation to solve.
5. Gain Function: In the frequency domain, the system's output (response) is the product of the external input (force)
and a Gain Function, denoted as 𝐺(𝜔). This function is determined solely by the internal structure of the system (like
its natural frequency and damping), and the gain for each frequency component is independent of the others.
6. Resonance: Resonance is the phenomenon where the amplitude of the system's oscillation becomes largest when
the external driving frequency approaches the system's natural frequency. This is a frequency-dependent
enhancement of the system's response.
7. Long-Term Behavior and Application: Over a long period, the regular solution decays to zero due to damping,
leaving only the particular solution to describe the system's motion. This principle is widely applied, for example, in
musical instruments, where the resonant body (like a guitar's body) acts as a system that manipulates sound waves
from a string via its specific gain function to create a unique musical tone.