This document discusses the damping ratio of unit step responses in control systems. It defines damping ratio as the ratio of the actual damping coefficient to the critical damping coefficient. It describes the different types of damping including underdamped, overdamped, and critically damped systems. It discusses using a unit step function as a common test input and analyzing the step response to identify system properties. MATLAB coding examples are provided to simulate step responses and the document discusses applications in identification from step response testing.