The most common form of damping, which is usually assumed, is the form found in linear systems. This form is exponential damping, in which the outer envelope of the successive peaks is an exponential decay curve. That is, when you connect the maximum point of each successive curve, the result resembles an exponential decay function. The general equation for an exponentially damped sinusoid may be represented as: y ( t ) = A e − − λ λ t cos ⁡ ⁡ ( ω ω t − − φ φ ) where: