Oscillation is the variation, typically in time, of some measure as seen, for example, in a swinging pendulum.

The term vibration is sometimes used more narrowly to mean a mechanical oscillation but sometimes is used to be synonymous with oscillation.

Oscillations occur not only in physical systems but also in biological systems and in human society.

The simplest mechanical oscillating system is a mass, subject to the force of gravity, attached to a linear spring.

The system is in an equilibrium state when the weight of the mass is balanced by the tension of the spring.

If the system is displaced from the equilibrium, there is a net restoring force on the mass, tending to bring it back to equilibrium.

However, in moving the mass back to the equilibrium position, it has acquired momentum which keeps it moving beyond that position, establishing a new restoring force, now in the opposite sense and this time due to gravity.

The time taken for an oscillation to occur is often reffered to as being the oscillatory period.

For more information about the topic Oscillation, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Feedback — In cybernetics and control theory, feedback is a process whereby some proportion or in general, function, of the output signal of a system is passed ...  > read more

Torque — In physics, torque can informally be thought of as "rotational force" or "angular force" which causes a change in rotational motion. This force is ...  > read more

Seismometer — Seismometer are used by seismologists to measure and record seismic waves. By studying seismic waves, geologists can map the interior of the Earth, ...  > read more

Drag (physics) — For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external ...  > read more

Recommend this page on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

Related Stories

Engineer Discovers Why Particles Disperse on Liquids (November 18, 2009) — Even if you are not a cook, you might have wondered why a pinch of flour (or any small particles) thrown into a bowl of water will disperse in a dramatic fashion, radiating outward as if it was ...  > read more

Optical Atomic Clock: A Long Look At The Captured Atoms (February 8, 2008) — Optical clocks might become the atomic clocks of the future. Their "pendulum", i.e. the regular oscillation process which each clock needs, is an oscillation in the range of the visible light. As its ...  > read more

New Sensor Exploits Traditional Weakness of Nano Devices (February 13, 2010) — By taking advantage of a phenomenon that until now has been a virtual showstopper for electronics designers, scientists are developing a chemical and biological sensor with unprecedented ...  > read more

Proteins Are Vastly More Complicated Than Previously Realized (May 4, 2001) — The function of proteins – the workhorses of our bodies – depends on how those proteins are physically folded. Researchers around the world are examining the countless complex structures ...  > read more

Gases In One Dimension -- Not Your Typical Desk Toy (April 13, 2006) — Physicists at Penn State University have performed the first laboratory experiment with a system of many colliding particles whose motion never becomes chaotic. The achievement provides a deeper ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily

Sun Darkens Electronics