Re: Periodic motion vs. oscillation

[Hugh Haskell <hhaskell@MINDSPRING.COM>]

At 9:48 AM -0400 6/22/04, Robert Cohen wrote:
> What, if any, is the difference between periodic motion and
> oscillations?
>
> For example, the motion of the earth around the sun is an example of
> periodic motion.  But is it an example of an oscillation?
>
> I thought that an oscillation is when something is forced back to some
> equilibrium position (like a vibration).  Periodic motion, on the other
> hand, is something that repeats itself (i.e., is cyclic).  Perhaps an
> oscillation is an example of periodic motion but not all periodic
> motions are oscillations?
I think I would agree with this last statement, except that an
oscillation doesn't have to be periodic, which is to say,
oscillations may be driven in such a way that they do not have a
constant, or nearly constant period.

Hugh
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Hugh Haskell
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