Preventing the indicator of an instrument from oscillating in virtue of
its own inertia or elasticity. In a galvanometer it is defined as
resistance to quick vibrations of the needle, in consequence of which it
is rapidly brought to rest when deflected (Ayrton). In dead-beat
galvanometers damping is desirable in
order to bring the needle to rest quickly; in ballistic galvanometers
(see Galvanometer, Ballistic,) damping is avoided in order to maintain
the principle of the instrument. Damping may be mechanical, the
frictional resistance of air to an air-vane, or of a liquid to an
immersed diaphragm or loosely fitting piston, being employed. A
dash-pot, q. v., is an example of the latter. It may be
electro-magnetic. A mass of metal near a swinging magnetic needle tends
by induced currents to arrest the oscillations thereof, and is used for
this purpose in dead-beat galvanometers. This is termed, sometimes,
magnetic friction. The essence of damping is to develop resistance to
movement in some ratio proportional to velocity, so that no resistance
is offered to the indicator slowly taking its true position.