Resonance
Program 117
The music and the mathematics of nature, Part
II. As Galileo noted, the swings of a pendulum increasingly grow with repeated,
timed applications of a small force. When the frequency of an applied force
matches the natural frequency of a system, large amplitude oscillations result
in the phenomenon of resonance. Resonance explains why a swaying bridge
collapsed in a mild wind, and how a wine glass can be shattered by a human
voice.