Natural frequency, also known as eigenfrequency, is the frequency at which a system tends to oscillate in the absence of any driving force.

The motion pattern of a system oscillating at its natural frequency is called the normal mode (if all parts of the system move sinusoidally with that same frequency).

If the oscillating system is driven by an external force at the frequency at which the amplitude of its motion is greatest (close to a natural frequency of the system), this frequency is called resonant frequency.

Overview[edit]

Free vibrations of an elastic body are called natural vibrations and occur at a frequency called the natural frequency. Natural vibrations are different from forced vibrations which happen at the frequency of an applied force (forced frequency). If the forced frequency is equal to the natural frequency, the vibrations' amplitude increases manyfold. This phenomenon is known as resonance.^[1]

In a mass-spring system, with mass m and spring stiffness k, the natural frequency can be calculated as:

$${\displaystyle \omega _{0}={\sqrt {\frac {k}{m}}}}$$

In electrical circuits, s₁ is a natural frequency of variable x if the zero-input response of x includes the term ${\displaystyle K_{1}e^{-s_{1}t}}$, where ${\displaystyle K_{1}\neq 0}$ is a constant dependent on initial state of the circuit, network topology, and element values.^[2] In a network, s_k is a natural frequency of the network if it is a natural frequency of some voltage or current in the network.^[3] Natural frequencies depend only on network topology and element values but not the input.^[4] It can be shown that the set of natural frequencies in a network can be obtained by calculating the poles of all impedance and admittance functions of the network.^[5] All poles of the network transfer function are also natural frequencies of the corresponding response variable; however there may exist some natural frequencies that are not a pole of the network function. These frequencies happen at some special initial states.^[6]

In LC and RLC circuits, the natural frequency of a circuit can be calculated as:^[7]

$${\displaystyle \omega _{0}={\frac {1}{\sqrt {LC}}}}$$

See also[edit]

• Fundamental frequency

Footnotes[edit]

References[edit]

• Bhatt, P. Maximum Marks Maximum Knowledge in Physics. Allied Publishers. ISBN 9788184244441. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
• College Physics. 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
• Basic Physics. Prentice-Hall Of India Pvt. Limited. 2009. ISBN 9788120337084. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
• Desoer, Charles (1969). Basic circuit theory. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0070165750.

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