Resonance

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In physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to vibrate with increasing amplitudes at some frequencies of excitation. These are known as the system's resonant frequencies (or resonance frequencies).^[1] The resonator may have a fundamental frequency, and any number of harmonics.

An example of useful effect of resonant frequency is a guitar string which makes a characteristic noise when it is touched. The noise depends on how thick or slack the string is.

Another example can be seen in a playground swing. There is one specific rate at which you must push away a person on a swing to cause the swing to go high. This rate is the resonant frequency.

In earthquake engineering, on contrary, any possibility of a resonance is detrimental for the building structure.

The Kirkwood gap and other connections among orbits are caused by orbital resonance.

1. ↑ Tongue, Benson, Principles of Vibration, Oxford University Pres, 2001, ISBN 0-195-142462