Talk:Oscillation

Expansion
I believe that this article is in need of expansion. Besselfunctions 02:09, 19 November 2005 (UTC)

My problem about the initial definition is the word "periodic" which is not correct for damped and therefore all real-world oscillations. I found similar misleading definitions in the corresponding entries in other languages. Ideas to fix that?


 * Just because something is modulated that does not stop it being periodic. Cutler 11:50, 6 March 2006 (UTC)


 * So maybe I am wrong in what I consider to be periodic. For me, something is said to be periodic if it turns back to the same point and restarts again the same things. With this definition I get some problems in defining a damped pendulum to be periodic. Weakening the definition I have much probelms to define what is really meant by periodicity. Hottiger 14:41, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

Saw this article the other day. I'm a mechanical engineering student, and willing to help out. Do we have any specific goals for cleanup? Alwarren@ucsd.edu 20:34, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

yes could you expand it about sine wave oscillators and their applications in medicine. thanks. matan


 * I feel this is a common problem we have on wikipedia: if we use too narrow, esoteric or technical a definition, we end up with something which is unusable, or at least incomprehensible by ordinary readers. In engineering the word "oscillation" is used in contexts in which a periodic function is scaled or modulated by another function, so the result is not technically periodic.  Examples are "damped oscillation" or "voltage controlled oscillator".  In other words the term "oscillation" is mord descriptive than a definition. Cheers.  -- Chetvorno TALK 18:42, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Self excitation- whats it mean?
Ok Ive removed some refs to self excitation. But before we all get too excited, can we define what we mean by the term 'self excitation'. Does it mean greater tha unity +ve fb. or what? --Light current 02:40, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

A few major changes
Here are my justifications.


 * The intro paragraph failed to mention the feature that characterizes oscillations, namely that there is a variation about a central point or between different extremes.
 * The simplest example of an oscillator is a mass with a spring, without gravity. However, gravity merely offsets the equilibrium point of the system, and does not alter any important feature (such as the period).  This section thus was misleading in saying that gravity provides the downward force at the top of the oscillation.  I have, however, retained a note that the case with gravity resembles the case without.
 * The listed qualities of oscillation are far from universal. Oscillations in, say, ecology or economics don't have momentum or energy analogues.  The oscillations also don't have to be about a point of equilibrium; imagine a quadratic potential well with a small "hump" in the middle, and the total energy above that hump.  I've removed or integrated most of this list.  Even the part about restoring force is arguable, though it's a likelier candidate for universality than the other features.
 * Self-inducing oscillations didn't seem to merit its own subheading. Also broke up a long sentence in that paragraph.
 * Two masses and two springs as a simple example of coupled oscillation? Where are the springs connected?  A more common example is two masses and three springs, the extra one between the two masses.  Also removed another too-specialized reference to energy.
 * "Neural oscillations" was made an entry in the examples section.
 * A few examples were removed for being too specific, "good vibrations" for being inappropriate, and a few were added to the sparser headings. I don't know of any more examples of chemical oscillations, unfortunately.
 * Removed redundancies from the "See also" section, and moved a few into the "Examples" section.

Anarchic Fox 21:10, 4 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Two masses and two springs ... Where are the springs connected?. I think this is referring to an arrangement like the double pendulum, with one spring from the top fixed point to the mass in the middle, and another spring from the mass in the middle to the bottom mass. Although 3 springs are arguably "more complicated" than 2 springs ("50% more springs"), I'm glad you replaced it with a 3 springs example -- I think that makes a better explanation of coupled oscillators. I added more chemical oscillators. --68.0.124.33 (talk) 16:13, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Oscillation
Okay im doing a project for my science class and i dont know were to find facts about what systems oscillate
 * Oscillation is not a simple definition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.107.3.126 (talk) 22:19, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Correction
the statement: "In real-world systems, the second law of thermodynamics dictates that there is some continual and inevitable conversion of energy into the thermal energy of the environment." is incorrect. the 2nd law of thermodynamics says the entropy change of a prozess is larger OR EQUAL zero. Hence, the 2nd law does NOT dictace "some continual and inevitable conversion of energy into the thermal energy of the environment". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.6.128.130 (talk) 10:33, 29 September 2009 (UTC)

New additions
Hello all, I am working on this Wikipedia page as an assignment for my Digital Humanities class. I currently plan on adding more sources, adding some basic equations and solutions to each case (and splitting up driven and damped oscillators), and adding the small oscillations approximation (that a potential energy curve with an equilibrium point can be approximated as an oscillator nearby the equilibrium point). I probably will make a separate more in depth page that focuses on this topic. Here are some sources I am planning on adding from.

"The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. I Ch. 21: The Harmonic Oscillator". www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-26.

"23.7: Small Oscillations". Physics LibreTexts. 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2022-03-26.

Taylor, John R. (2005). Classical mechanics. Mill Valley, California. ISBN 1-891389-22-X. OCLC 55729992.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts on these changes. Calliso2022 (talk) 01:59, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

IS THERE ANY NATURAL VIBRATIONS?
When we apply high energy to the system starts vibrate so that for any vibration there should be some external source.then what are natural vibrations. 49.37.156.239 (talk) 10:58, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

Are all real-world oscillator systems really thermodynamically irreversible??
i think I can think of a counter-example: a vibrating molecule floating though space. It just keeps vibrating. Em3rgent0rdr (talk) 05:26, 29 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Or for instance a photon, formed by oscillations between E and M fields. It just keeps going on forever.
 * Or two molecules orbiting each other.
 * It seems some systems aren't affected by friction or other energy losses, and so will keep going.
 * Maybe the sentence could be rewritten "Almost all real-world oscillator systems are thermodynamically irreversible..." Em3rgent0rdr (talk) 05:36, 29 April 2023 (UTC)

Can someone add comparisons between oscillation and vibration in the difinition paragraph?
As a nonprofessional, I can't tell the differences between oscillation and vibration in the difinition paragraph. Is the sentence "The term vibration is precisely used to describe a mechanical oscillation" their only one difference?

Can someone please add a comparative paragraph or difinition to describe them? Best with citations, thanks!Yyfroy (talk) 03:36, 20 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Vibration is a mechanical repetitive movement. Oscillation is a wider term including repetitive time varying electrical currents or electromagnetic waves.  Other than that I don't think there is much difference today. --ChetvornoTALK 06:37, 22 May 2023 (UTC)