Lesson 13.2.2

13.2.2 Damping and energy in oscillations Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Physics, Unit 13

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 13.2.2, Damping and energy in oscillations: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel Physics (9PH0), Unit 13: Oscillations, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What happens to the amplitude of a lightly damped free oscillator?

    • It falls gradually as energy is removed each cycle, with frequency nearly unchanged.
    • Its frequency increases steadily until the oscillation finally stops completely in time.
    • It increases without limit as the energy of the oscillation keeps building up in time.
    • It stays constant in amplitude for as long as damping is present in the system.

  2. What is critical damping?

    • Damping that makes the system oscillate at twice its natural frequency.
    • The smallest damping for which the system returns to equilibrium without oscillating.
    • Damping that removes no energy at all.
    • The largest damping for which the system oscillates forever.

  3. What is the total energy of a simple harmonic oscillator proportional to?

    • The amplitude
    • The square root of the amplitude
    • The period
    • The square of the amplitude

  4. A spring of stiffness 100 N m^-1 oscillates with amplitude 0.050 m. What is its total energy?

    • 0.0125 J
    • 0.125 J
    • 0.050 J
    • 0.25 J

  5. The amplitude of an undamped oscillator is halved. By what factor does its total energy change?

    • one half
    • one eighth
    • one quarter
    • unchanged

  6. A damped oscillator's amplitude falls from 10 cm to 9 cm in one cycle. What fraction of the energy is lost in that cycle?

    • 19%
    • 1%
    • 81%
    • 10%

  7. A 0.50 kg mass oscillates with total energy 0.125 J. What is its maximum speed?

    • 0.71 m s^-1
    • 0.25 m s^-1
    • 0.50 m s^-1
    • 0.35 m s^-1

  8. A 2.0 kg pendulum bob is released from a height 0.10 m above its lowest point. What is its kinetic energy at the lowest point?

    • 0.98 J
    • 20 J
    • 2.0 J
    • 0.20 J

  9. At what displacement in SHM are kinetic and potential energy equal?

    • 0.87 A
    • A / 4
    • A / 2
    • A / sqrt(2), about 0.71 A

  10. What happens to the energy of a damped oscillator?

    • It is converted into kinetic energy of the oscillator alone.
    • It is converted into light only.
    • It is stored permanently as elastic energy.
    • It is converted into thermal energy in the surroundings through friction and drag.

  11. Why is a ductile metal effective at damping vibration?

    • It stores all oscillation energy elastically and gives it back fully on every single cycle.
    • It removes the restoring force from the object so that the vibration stops at once.
    • It increases the natural frequency of the object towards infinity, so the vibration is blocked.
    • It deforms plastically, turning oscillation energy into internal energy, not elastic storage.

  12. In an undamped SHM system, how does the energy vary during an oscillation?

    • It decreases steadily to zero over successive cycles of the oscillation.
    • It increases steadily without limit over successive cycles of the oscillation.
    • It is always entirely kinetic at every point of the oscillation's full cycle.
    • It switches between kinetic and potential energy, with the total constant.

  13. An oscillator's amplitude decays exponentially, halving every 5 s. Its amplitude is 0.20 m at t = 0. When is the amplitude 0.025 m?

    • 15 s
    • 10 s
    • 2.5 s
    • 5 s

  14. A 0.40 kg mass oscillates at 2.0 Hz with amplitude 0.060 m. What is its total energy?

    • 0.45 J
    • 0.23 J
    • 0.11 J
    • 0.057 J

  15. Which statement about energy in a damped oscillator is correct?

    • Its total energy is zero once damping is present.
    • Its total energy decreases with time, and the rate of decrease depends on the damping.
    • Its total energy increases with time when damping is present.
    • Its total energy remains constant because damping only changes frequency.

  16. Why is the total energy of a SHM system proportional to the square of the amplitude?

    • Energy is proportional to the period at all amplitudes, because the period sets the energy.
    • Energy is proportional to the frequency alone, so amplitude has no effect on it at all.
    • Energy is (1/2) k A^2 at maximum displacement, where all the energy is potential.
    • Energy depends only on the mass of the oscillator, and not on the amplitude of motion.

  17. A pendulum bob of mass 0.20 kg and length 1.0 m swings with maximum speed 1.0 m s^-1. What is the kinetic energy at the lowest point?

    • 0.50 J
    • 0.10 J
    • 1.0 J
    • 0.20 J

  18. Which quantity is the same at the equilibrium position and at the extreme position of an undamped SHM oscillator?

    • Speed
    • Potential energy
    • Total energy
    • Kinetic energy

  19. A 0.50 kg mass oscillates with amplitude 0.10 m and angular frequency 4.0 rad s^-1. What is its total energy?

    • 0.080 J
    • 0.20 J
    • 0.040 J
    • 0.020 J

  20. A damped oscillator loses 36% of its energy in one cycle. What is the ratio of its new amplitude to its old amplitude?

    • 0.64
    • 0.36
    • 0.80
    • 0.20

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