Damped Vibration

In a real system, mechanical energy is lost due to friction and other mechanisms causing damping.

Unless energy is reintroduced into the system, the amplitude of the vibrations with decrease with time.

A change in peak amplitude with time is called an envelope, and if the envelope decreases, the vibrating system is said to be damped.

**Figure 4:** A damped sinusoid.
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``MUS 206: Mechanical Vibration'' by Tamara Smyth, Department of Music, University of California, San Diego (UCSD).