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COURSE 05 / COURSE

Oscillations & Waves

Understand repeating motion and transported patterns.

OUTCOMEBuild the harmonic oscillator, recognize resonance, and connect local oscillators into waves and normal modes.

PREREQUISITEDynamics, energy methods, and derivatives.

Oscillations & Waves: original course diagram — Course visual: a compact prompt for the physical ideas developed below.

12 CHAPTERS

Course map

01The simple harmonic oscillatorRecognize the restoring-force model and its sinusoidal solution.→02Phase space and energySee oscillation as a closed orbit in position–velocity space.→03DampingDistinguish underdamped, critically damped, and overdamped response.→04Driven oscillatorsTrack amplitude and phase when an external frequency is applied.→05Resonance and bandwidthUse a response curve to understand amplification and selectivity.→06Coupled oscillatorsFind collective modes in a small system of interacting oscillators.→07The wave equationMove from discrete oscillators to a continuous field equation.→08Traveling and standing wavesInterpret wavelength, phase, nodes, and antinodes.→09Energy and intensity of wavesTrack how a wave transports energy through space.→10Reflection, transmission, and impedancePredict what happens when a wave meets a boundary.→11Fourier thinkingDecompose a complex signal into simpler frequencies.→12Wave studio: pump vibrationUse frequency evidence to distinguish imbalance, cavitation, and structural response.→