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A molecular vibration is a periodic motion of the atoms of a molecule relative to each other, such that the center of mass of the molecule remains unchanged. The typical vibrational frequencies range from less than 10 13 Hz to approximately 10 14 Hz, corresponding to wavenumbers of approximately 300 to 3000 cm −1 and wavelengths of approximately 30 to 3 μm.
Simple harmonic motion can serve as a mathematical model for a variety of motions, but is typified by the oscillation of a mass on a spring when it is subject to the linear elastic restoring force given by Hooke's law. The motion is sinusoidal in time and demonstrates a single resonant frequency. Other phenomena can be modeled by simple ...
A simple harmonic oscillator is an oscillator that is neither driven nor damped. It consists of a mass m, which experiences a single force F, which pulls the mass in the direction of the point x = 0 and depends only on the position x of the mass and a constant k. Balance of forces (Newton's second law) for the system is.
Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio signals (sound), radio waves, and light. For example, if a heart beats at a frequency of 120 times per minute (2 hertz), the period—the interval between beats—is half a second ...
Q. factor. A damped oscillation. A low Q factor – about 5 here – means the oscillation dies out rapidly. In physics and engineering, the quality factor or Q factor is a dimensionless parameter that describes how underdamped an oscillator or resonator is. It is defined as the ratio of the initial energy stored in the resonator to the energy ...
An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a periodic, oscillating or alternating current (AC) signal, usually a sine wave, square wave or a triangle wave, [1][2][3] powered by a direct current (DC) source. Oscillators are found in many electronic devices, such as radio receivers, television sets, radio and television ...
The quantum harmonic oscillator is the quantum-mechanical analog of the classical harmonic oscillator. Because an arbitrary smooth potential can usually be approximated as a harmonic potential at the vicinity of a stable equilibrium point, it is one of the most important model systems in quantum mechanics.
Phase (waves) Plot of one cycle of a sinusoidal function. The phase for each argument value, relative to the start of the cycle, is shown at the bottom, in degrees from 0° to 360° and in radians from 0 to 2π. In physics and mathematics, the phase (symbol φ or ϕ) of a wave or other periodic function of some real variable (such as time) is ...