Posted by Rick Denney on August 17, 2001 at 15:17:34:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Vibration, damping, and weight posted by Mark F. on August 17, 2001 at 14:14:47:
Yes, and you changed those terms on my recommendation. But there are two things involved here. One is the common error of using "dampen" in place of "damp." That is a pet peeve of mine, and that's why I suggested your correction.
The other is whether adding elastic mass to the tuba actually damps anything. I've been reluctant to insist that "damping" is the wrong word because I'm not entirely confident I understand the definition. The Webster definition is "to check the vibration or oscillation of (as a string or voltage)", and it could be argued that adding elastic weight does check such vibration by increasing the energy requirements. But most engineers would use the term to mean attenuation, which means it must absorb energy.
Were I in your shoes, I might be tempted to change "damp" to "reduce".
Rick "preferring a less precise but more accurate term" Denney