vibration: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Nov. 12, 2026

News •

Inside this quantum computer, memory vibrates like a guitar string • Nov. 11, 2026, 9:36 PM ET (Science Daily)

Photos and Videos

Two related graphs display seismic data from the 1977 Indonesian earthquake as recorded at Whiskeytown, California. The top graph (A) shows ground motion amplitude over 20 hours, with amplitude peaking early and gradually decreasing. The bottom graph (B) presents the frequency spectrum of Earth's oscillations from the same record, highlighting several prominent frequency peaks labeled 0S14, 0S19, and 0S26. Both graphs use orange lines on a yellow background.

vibration of a reed

Understand motion magnification, a technique enabling researchers to monitor tiny vibrations in infrastructure

How does motion magnification help predict infrastructure damage?

View Christoph Kessler of the German Space Agency working on a helicopter's rotor blades to reduce the noise

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

oscillation natural vibration harmonic bending vibration fundamental anharmonic motion damped vibration forced vibration amplification stretching vibration radiation Brownian motion wave motion phase absorption interference scattering wavenumber Doppler effect microgravity

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

default image

Marin Mersenne

French mathematician

Brook Taylor, detail of a gouache miniature by Joseph Goupy; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Brook Taylor

British mathematician

Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.

Physics and Natural Law