There are the following differences between forced vibration and free vibration.
S.N. | Forced vibration | Free vibration |
1. | When a body vibrates with the help of an external periodic force, then this type of vibration is called forced vibration. | When a body vibrates with its own natural frequently without the help of any external periodic force, then this type of vibration called free vibration. |
2. | Examples of forced vibration are the sounding bodies i.e., a loudspeaker is driven by an ac signal coming from an amplifier. | An example of such vibration is a simple pendulum vibrating in a vacuum. |
3. | The amplitude of vibration decreases gradually over time. | The amplitude of vibration remains constant for a long period of time. |