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I've been looking through my textbooks and I've found a number of different equations - so I wanted to confirm with you which it is.

What is the equation which determines the damping constant (gamma) in a spring executing shm?

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    There are many different models for springs, and usually damping is added in by putting a term proportional to the velocity with a negative coefficient. Please elaborate. Also, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damping2011-05-06
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    Also, is it actually *simple harmonic motion* if the motion is damped?2011-05-06
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    Besides, the damping constant is a parameter. It's something you put into your equations so that you can model your system correctly. Of course, if you assume the model to be a damped oscillator, there's a way to learn from the equation what measurement/experiment you should perform to determine the damping constant of the system. Maybe that is what you are after?2011-05-06
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    It is an underdamped spring. Basically I'm trying to find the equation which will calculate the damping constant given the mass, spring constant, amplitude or whichever other variables are relevant. There are a variety of formulas in the link Sammy provided, basically I'd just like some confirmation as to which will find the 'damping constant' (ie the constant in the exponent of the decaying exponential equation of the damped motion).2011-05-06

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