Topic V In Which We Discuss Oscillations and Waves Vibrations lie at the heart of a zillion things we experience every day, from musical instruments to weird noises in our cars to our stereo systems. By investigating the behavior of vibrating objects we can develop an understanding of a broad range of physical phenomena. Waves are a means of moving energy with no net motion of matter. Their source is, and they consist of, vibrations. Waves are something we encounter daily, and so our discussion of waves revolves around a lot of applications (stereos, voices, music).

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What you need to know and understand: q Oscillations and their Period, Frequency, & Amplitude. q The Simple Harmonic Oscillator q Differential Equations for Oscillators q Damped Oscillators & Critical Damping q Driven Oscillators & Resonance q Waves q Superposition of Waves: Interference, and Fourier Synthesis q Standing Waves q The Doppler Effect