You are on page 1of 2

1/24/2017

MasteringPhysics2.0:ProblemPrintView

[ProblemView]

CreatingaStandingWave
LearningGoal:Toseehowtwotravelingwavesofthesamefrequencycreateastandingwave.
Consideratravelingwavedescribedbytheformula
.
Thisfunctionmightrepresentthelateraldisplacementofastring,alocalelectricfield,thepositionofthesurfaceofabodyofwater,oranyofanumberofotherphysicalmanifestationsofwaves.
PartA

Whichoneofthefollowingstatementsaboutthewavedescribedintheproblemintroductioniscorrect?
ANSWER:

Thewaveistravelinginthe

direction.

Thewaveistravelinginthe

direction.

Thewaveisoscillatingbutnottraveling.
Thewaveistravelingbutnotoscillating.
PartB

Whichoftheexpressionsgivenisamathematicalexpressionforawaveofthesameamplitudethatistravelingintheoppositedirection?Attime
displacementas

thisnewwaveshouldhavethesame

,thewavedescribedintheproblemintroduction.

ANSWER:

Theprincipleofsuperpositionstatesthatiftwofunctionseachseparatelysatisfythewaveequation,thenthesum(ordifference)alsosatisfiesthewaveequation.Thisprinciplefollowsfromthefact
thateveryterminthewaveequationislinearintheamplitudeofthewave.
Considerthesumoftwowaves

,where

isthewavedescribedinPartAand

isthewavedescribedinPartB.Thesewaveshavebeenchosensothattheirsumcan

bewrittenasfollows:
.
Thisformissignificantbecause

,calledtheenvelope,dependsonlyonposition,and

unitamplitudethatis,theoverallamplitudeofthewaveiswrittenaspartof

PartC
Find

dependsonlyontime.Traditionally,thetimefunctionistakentobeatrigonometricfunctionwith

and

.Keepinmindthat

HintC.1

shouldbeatrigonometricfunctionofunitamplitude.

Ausefulidentity

Ausefultrigonometricidentityforthisproblemis
.
HintC.2

Applyingtheidentity

Sinceyoureallyneedanidentityfor

,simplyreplace by

intheidentityfromHintC.1,keepinginmindthat

Expressyouranswersintermsof , , , ,and .Separatethetwofunctionswithacomma.


ANSWER:

PartD

= 2*A*sin(k*x)cos(omega*t)
sin(k*x)2*A*cos(omega*t)

Whichoneofthefollowingstatementsaboutthesuperpositionwave
ANSWER:

Thiswaveistravelinginthe

direction.

Thiswaveistravelinginthe

direction.

iscorrect?

Thiswaveisoscillatingbutnottraveling.
Thiswaveistravelingbutnotoscillating.
Awavethatoscillatesinplaceiscalledastandingwave.Becauseeachpartofthestringoscillateswiththesamephase,thewavedoesnotappeartomoveleftorrightrather,itoscillatesupand
downonly.
PartE
Attheposition

,whatisthedisplacementofthestring(assumingthatthestandingwave

ispresent)?

Expressyouranswerintermsofparametersgivenintheproblemintroduction.

https://notendur.hi.is/eme1/skoli/edl_h05/masteringphysics/15/CreatingaStandingWave.htm

1/2

1/24/2017

MasteringPhysics2.0:ProblemPrintView

ANSWER:

Thiscouldbeausefulpropertyofthisstandingwave,sinceitcouldrepresentastringtiedtoapostorotherwiseconstrainedatposition

.Suchsolutionswillbeimportantintreating

normalmodesthatarisewhentherearetwosuchconstraints.
PartF

Atcertaintimes,thestringwillbeperfectlystraight.Findthefirsttime
HintF.1

whenthisistrue.

Howtoapproachtheproblem

Thestringcanbestraightonlywhen

,forthen

also(forall ).Foranyothervalueof

willbeasinusoidalfunctionofposition .

Express intermsof , ,andnecessaryconstants.


ANSWER:

PartG

= pi/(2*omega)

FromPartFweknowthatthestringisperfectlystraightattime

.Whichofthefollowingstatementsdoesthestring'sbeingstraightimplyabouttheenergystoredinthestring?

a.Thereisnoenergystoredinthestring:Thestringwillremainstraightforallsubsequenttimes.
b.Energywillflowintothestring,causingthestandingwavetoformatalatertime.
c.Althoughthestringisstraightattime

,partsofthestringhavenonzerovelocity.Therefore,thereisenergystoredinthestring.

d.Thetotalmechanicalenergyinthestringoscillatesbutisconstantifaveragedoveracompletecycle.
ANSWER:

https://notendur.hi.is/eme1/skoli/edl_h05/masteringphysics/15/CreatingaStandingWave.htm

2/2

You might also like