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Identify the function which represents a non-periodic motion.

Asked in Re-NEET 2022 · Identifying SHM

Answer: (2) e^-ω t

Step-by-step solution

Idea: a motion is periodic if the function returns to the same value after a fixed interval, for every t.

sin ω t and sin (ω t+π/4) both repeat after T=(2π)/ω.

sin ω t+cos ω t=√2 sin (ω t+π/4), which repeats after the same T.

e^-ω t falls steadily towards zero and never returns to an earlier value.

So e^-ω t is the non-periodic one.

Why the other options are wrong

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