Damped oscillations are periodic oscillations whose amplitude decreases gradually with time due to the effect of radiation by an oscillating system and the friction present in the system. An oscillator is anything that has a rhythmic periodic response, and a damped oscillation means an oscillation that fades away with time. Damped harmonic oscillators have non-conservative forces that dissipate their energy, and critical damping returns the system to equilibrium as fast as possible/Book%3A_University_Physics_I_-Mechanics_Sound_Oscillations_and_Waves(OpenStax)/15%3A_Oscillations/15.06%3A_Damped_Oscillations). The damping of a real system is a complex phenomenon involving several kinds of damping forces, and the damping force opposes the motion of the body. The behavior of a weakly damped oscillator is a graph of the motion described by the equation, and the amplitude decreases exponentially with time. The damping may be quite small, but eventually, the mass comes to rest, and the oscillation is said to be damped.