Hover over the menu bar to pick a physics animation.

Damped Harmonic Oscillator

This is a damped mechanical oscillator. Its motion is the most common behavior of all the dynamic systems. You have the option of changing the spring constant, k, (which will change its frequency) and the dashpot drag coefficient, b. For more information see Harmonic Oscillator Equations

The spring constant, k

A stiffer spring results in a higher frequency

The mass, m

A larger mass results in a lower frequency

The drag coefficient, b

A larger drag coefficent results in faster amplitude decay