3/1/2017 WavesandWavelikeMotion

WavesandWavelikeMotion
WavesandWavelikeMotion
WhatisaWave?
CategoriesofWaves

Wavesareeverywhere.Whetherwerecognizeitornot,weencounterwavesonadailybasis.
Soundwaves,visiblelightwaves,radiowaves,microwaves,waterwaves,sine
waves,cosinewaves,stadiumwaves,earthquakewaves,wavesonastring,and
slinkywavesandarejustafewoftheexamplesofourdailyencounterswithwaves.
Inadditiontowaves,thereareavarietyofphenomenainourphysicalworldthat
resemblewavessocloselythatwecandescribesuchphenomenonasbeing
wavelike.Themotionofapendulum,themotionofamasssuspendedbyaspring,
themotionofachildonaswing,andthe"Hello,GoodMorning!"waveofthehand
canbethoughtofaswavelikephenomena.Waves(andwavelikephenomena)areeverywhere!
Westudythephysicsofwavesbecauseitprovidesarichglimpseintothephysicalworldthatweseekto
understandanddescribeasstudentsofphysics.Beforebeginningaformaldiscussionofthenatureof
waves,itisoftenusefultoponderthevariousencountersandexposuresthatwehaveofwaves.Where
doweseewavesorexamplesofwavelikemotion?Whatexperiencesdowealreadyhavethatwillhelp
usinunderstandingthephysicsofwaves?
Formanypeople,thefirstthoughtconcerningwavesconjuresupapictureof
awavemovingacrossthesurfaceofanocean,lake,pondorotherbodyof
water.Thewavesarecreatedbysomeformofadisturbance,suchasarock
thrownintothewater,aduckshakingitstailinthewateroraboatmoving
throughthewater.Thewaterwavehasacrestandatroughandtravels
fromonelocationtoanother.Onecrestisoftenfollowedbyasecondcrest
thatisoftenfollowedbyathirdcrest.Everycrestisseparatedbyatroughto
createanalternatingpatternofcrestsandtroughs.Aduckorgullatreston
thesurfaceofthewaterisobservedtobobupanddownatratherregular
timeintervalsasthewavepassesby.Thewavesmayappeartobeplane
wavesthattraveltogetherasa frontinastraightlinedirection,perhaps
towardsasandyshore.Orthewavesmaybecircularwavesthatoriginatefromthepointwherethe
disturbancesoccursuchcircularwavestravelacrossthesurfaceofthewaterinalldirections.These
mentalpicturesofwaterwavesareusefulforunderstandingthenatureofawaveandwillberevisited
laterwhenwebeginourformaldiscussionofthetopic.
Thethoughtofwavesoftenbringstomindarecentencounteratthebaseballorfootballstadiumwhen
thecrowdenthusiasticallyengagedin doingthewave .Whenperformedwithreasonablygoodtiming,a
noticeablerippleisproducedthattravelsaroundthecircularstadiumorbackandforthacrossasection
ofbleachers.Theobservablerippleresultswhenagroupofenthusiasticfansriseupfromtheirseats,
swingtheirarmsuphigh,andthensitbackdown.BeginninginSection1,thefirstrowoffansabruptly
riseuptobeginthewave astheysitbackdown,row2beginsitsmotionasrow2sitsbackdown,row
3beginsitsmotion.Theprocesscontinues,aseachconsecutiverowbecomesinvolvedbyamomentary
standingupandsittingbackdown.The wave ispassedfromrowtorowaseachindividualmemberof
therowbecomestemporarilydisplacedoutofhisorherseat,onlytoreturntoitasthe wave passesby.
Thismentalpictureofa stadiumwavewillalsoprovideausefulcontextforthediscussionofthephysics
ofwavemotion.
Anotherpictureofwavesinvolvesthemovementofaslinkyorsimilarsetofcoils.Ifaslinkyisstretched
outfromendtoend,awavecanbeintroducedintotheslinkybyeithervibratingthefirstcoilupand
downverticallyorbackandforthhorizontally.Awavewillsubsequentlybeseentravelingfromoneend
oftheslinkytotheother.Asthewavemovesalongtheslinky,eachindividualcoilisseentomoveout
ofplaceandthenreturntoitsoriginalposition.Thecoilsalwaysmoveinthesamedirectionthatthe
firstcoilwasvibrated.Acontinuedvibrationofthefirstcoilresultsinacontinuedbackandforthmotion
oftheothercoils.Iflookedatclosely,onenoticesthatthewavedoesnotstopwhenitreachestheend
oftheslinkyratheritseemstobounceofftheendandheadbackfromwhereitstarted.Aslinkywave
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3/1/2017 WavesandWavelikeMotion

providesanexcellentmentalpictureofawaveandwillbeused
indiscussionsanddemonstrationsthroughoutthisunit.
Welikelyhavememoriesfromchildhoodofholdingalongjump
ropewithafriendandvibratinganendupanddown.Theupand
downvibrationoftheendoftheropecreatedadisturbanceof
theropethatsubsequentlymovedtowardstheotherend.Upon
reachingtheoppositeend,thedisturbanceoftenbouncedback
toreturntotheendwewereholding.Asingledisturbancecould
becreatedbythesinglevibrationofoneendoftherope.Onthe
otherhand,arepeateddisturbancewouldresultinarepeated
andregularvibrationoftherope.Theshapeofthepatternformedintheropewasinfluencedbythe
frequencyatwhichwevibratedit.Ifwevibratedtheroperapidly,thenashortwavewascreated.Andif
wevibratedtheropelessfrequently(notasoften),alongwavewascreated.Whilewewerelikely
unawareofitaschildren,wewereenteringtheworldofthephysicsofwavesaswecontentedlyplayed
withtherope.
Thenthereisthe"Hello,GoodMorning!"wave.Whetherencounteredinthedrivewayasyoubeginyour
triptoschool,onthestreetonthewaytoschool,intheparkinglotuponarrivaltoschool,orinthe
hallwayonthewaytoyourfirstclass,the"Hello,GoodMorning!"waveprovidesasimple(yetexcellent)
exampleofphysicsinaction.Thesimplebackandforthmotionofthehandiscalled awave
.WhenMom
commandsusto "wave
toMr.Smith,"sheistellingustoraiseourhandandtotemporarilyoreven
repeatedlyvibrateitbackandforth.Thehandisraised,movedtotheleft,andthenbacktothefarright
andfinallyreturnstoitsoriginalposition.Energyisputintothehandandthehandbeginsitsbackand
forthvibrationalmotion.Andwecalltheprocessofdoingit"waving."Soonwewillseehowthissimple
actisrepresentativeofthenatureofaphysicalwave.
WealsoencounteredwavesinMathclassintheformofthesineandcosinefunction.Weoftenplottedy
=Bsine(Ax)onourcalculatororbyhandandobservedthatitsgraphicalshaperesembledthe
characteristicshapeofawave.Therewasacrestandatroughandarepeatingpattern.Ifwechanged
theconstantAintheequation,wenoticedthatwecouldchangethe length
oftherepeatingpattern.
AndifwechangedBintheequation,wenoticedthatwechangedthe height
ofthepattern.Inmath
class,weencounteredtheunderlyingmathematicalfunctionsthatdescribethephysicalnatureofwaves.
Finally,wearefamiliarwithmicrowavesandvisiblelightwaves.Whilewehaveneverseenthem,we
believethattheyexistbecausewehavewitnessedhowtheycarryenergyfromonelocationtoanother.
Andsimilarly,wearefamiliarwithradiowavesandsoundwaves.Likemicrowaves,wehaveneverseen
them.Yetwebelievetheyexistbecausewehavewitnessedthesignalsthattheycarryfromone
locationtoanotherandwehaveevenlearnedhowtotuneintothosesignalsthroughuseofourearsor
atuneronatelevisionorradio.Waves,aswewilllearn,carryenergyfromonelocationtoanother.And
ifthefrequencyofthosewavescanbechanged,thenwecanalsocarryacomplexsignalthatiscapable
oftransmittinganideaorthoughtfromonelocationtoanother.Perhapsthisisoneofthemost
importantaspectsofwavesandwillbecomeafocusofourstudyinlaterunits.
Wavesareeverywhereinnature.Ourunderstandingofthephysicalworldisnotcompleteuntilwe
understandthenature,propertiesandbehaviorsofwaves.Thegoalofthisunitistodevelopmental
modelsofwavesandultimatelyapplythosemodelstoanunderstandingofthetwomostcommontypes
ofwavessoundwavesandlightwaves.

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