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Quizbowl Physics
Term | Definition |
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Logarithmic Decrement | The natural log of the ratio of the amplitudes of any two successive peaks. Used to find the damping ratio of an underdamped oscillator. Represented by a lowercase delta. |
Phase Space | A space which can represent all possible states of a system. Usually tracks position and momentum for mechanical systems. Harmonic oscillators form ellipses in it. Developed by by Ludwig Boltzmann, Henri Poincaré, and Willard Gibbs. |
Damping Ratio | The ratio of actual damping to critical damping in an oscillator. Less than 1 is underdamped, greater than 1 is overdamped, and equal to 1 is critically damped. Represented by a lowercase zeta. |
Q Factor | Refers to how damped an oscillator is. A higher number represents less damping, and vice versa. Critical damping occurs at a value of 0.5. |
RLC Circuit | A circuit composed of a resistor (R), inductor (L), and capacitor (C). Analogous to a simple harmonic oscillator. Can be represented by a second order homogeneous differential equation. |