Practice question

**Real oscillators** experience damping, amplitude decreasing with time. Critical damping returns to equilibrium fastest without oscillation, overdamping slows return, underdamping shows decaying oscillations, classification based on b relative to 2mω₀, important for practical systems. For small angles, sin θ ≈ θ (in radians), making the restoring torque ( tau = -mgL θ ) linear, a requirement for SHM. Applying x = A cos(ωt + φ), v = -ωA sin(ωt + φ), a = -ω²x and E = ½kA² = ½mω²A², result sin θ ≈ θ follows, reflecting SHM dependence on amplitude A, ω and system parameters.