Transients: Feynman's Physics Explained
Strike a bell and it does not instantly ring a pure tone; first there is a complicated 'clank' before it settles. That start-up behavior is a transient. Every real oscillator has some damping or friction that makes free motion die away if it is not being driven. So the natural, undriven motions — the transients — are typically decaying wiggles, the solutions to the equations once the driving force is switched off.
The big idea
Real vibrations start messy and fade — that's the transient.
Think about it
Why does a plucked guitar string eventually go silent instead of ringing forever?
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