One of the most important characteristics of the various types of vibrations that are observed in nature are the period and frequency of vibrations. These physical phenomena are so widespread that, perhaps, it is impossible to indicate the areas of existence in which these physical processes would not be observed. The most common areas of study of the nature of oscillatory movements are mechanics, electronics, astronomy, location and others.
What unites all these branches is that the nature of the oscillatory movements in them is the same, and, therefore, the theory that describes these phenomena is universal. For example, it is generally accepted that a period is a certain period of time during which a certain object makes one complete oscillation and then returns to its original position. The most telling example of this in mechanics is the oscillation of the pendulum of a watch.
Oscillations in their properties distinguish between free (or intrinsic) and harmonic. Free ones are those that are caused by external forces applied to the object and bring it out of equilibrium (in mechanics: a string of a musical instrument, a weight suspended on a thread, etc.). A more important place in the theory of vibrational processes is occupied by harmonic vibrations. It is they that make up the basis that allows us to formulate the laws of this theory and consider the nature of oscillations in various physical media (water, air, gas, vacuum, etc.).
Based on the statement about the universality of the theory of oscillations, we can conclude about the universality of the physical units, which reflect the magnitude of these oscillations, regardless of their nature and scope. These are the period and frequency. How the oscillation period is determined is already mentioned above. The oscillation frequency is defined as the number of perfect complete oscillations of objects for a certain unit of time. The period and frequency in the theory of oscillations are connected by a single formula common to this theory. The formula describing the period of free oscillations has the form: f = 1 / T, where f is the frequency, T is the period (along with the frequency, it acts as the main parameter of this phenomenon).
There are other characteristics of oscillatory processes, such as amplitude, cyclic frequency, phase, but their application is due to more complicated conditions for describing oscillations. These conditions are:
- the nature of the oscillatory process itself, that is, which vibrations we are considering β mechanical, electromagnetic, cyclic, or others;
- the environment in which the oscillatory processes occur - air, water or otherwise. These conditions most significantly affect all process parameters, including the oscillation period. For example, for cyclic ones, the formula by which the oscillation period is determined includes also the exponent 2ΟΞ½, which characterizes the magnitude of the circular oscillations.
The oscillation frequency is characterized by a unit that bears the name of the great physicist - Heinrich Hertz and is abbreviated as: Hz. Based on the formula considered by us, 1 Hz is a value equal to one complete oscillation that occurred in one second. This unit is characterized by a huge variety of parameters that surround us in everyday life. For example, the frequency of the alternating current that we consume at home is 50 Hz. This means that the electron flux in the conductor 50 times changes the direction of its motion. Frequencies can be characterized both by small values ββ(for example, pendulum oscillations), and by values ββreaching billions of oscillations per second. Such, for example, are the frequencies that characterize the computing operations in modern computers. Then the hertz to use to reflect the values ββbecomes inconvenient, and multiple values ββare added to them: kilo- (kHz, 1000), mega- (MHz, 1,000,000), giga- (GHz, 1,000,000,000) and so on.
The value that the oscillation period shows us is the most common metric units (times, if I may say so), that is, a numerical indicator of the number of perfect oscillatory movements for a certain period of time.