Relaxation oscillations are maintained by a constant external influence and present two diferent timescales (fast and slow). They have properties diferent from the pendular oscillations which, for small amplitudes, reduce to harmonic oscillations. In this first paper we present the diferences between relaxation and pendular oscillations, showing illustrative examples of application of relaxation oscillations in a mechanical system (Tantal vase) and an electric circuit.
relaxation oscillations; nonlinear oscillations; self-sustained oscillations
