  We describe an experiment involving a mass oscillating in a viscous fluid and
analyze viscous damping of harmonic motion. The mechanical oscillator is
tracked using a simple webcam and an image processing algorithm records the
position of the geometrical center as a function of time. Interesting
information can be extracted from the displacement-time graphs, in particular
for the underdamped case. For example, we use these oscillations to determine
the viscosity of the fluid. Our mean value of 1.08 \pm 0.07 mPa s for distilled
water is in good agreement with the accepted value at 20\circC. This experiment
has been successfully employed in the freshman lab setting.
