Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940) Billah and Scanlan (1991) reported that in fact, many physics textbooks (for example Resnick et al. and Tipler et al.) wrongly explain that the cause of the failure of the Tacoma Narrows bridge was externally forced mechanical resonance. Resonance is the tendency of a system to oscillate at larger amplitudes at certain frequencies, known as the system's natural frequencies. At these frequencies, even relatively small periodic driving forces can produce large amplitude vibrations, because the system stores energy. For example, a child using a swing realizes that if the pushes are properly timed, the swing can move with a very
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe The Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) is an international research institute for physics and mathematics situated in Kashiwa, Japan, near Tokyo. Its full name is ""Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo Institutes for Advanced Study, the University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan"". The main subjects of study at IPMU are particle physics, high energy physics, astrophysics, astronomy and mathematics. The institute addresses five key questions: "How did the universe begin? What is its fate? What is it