PHY 317K 1st Edition Lecture 16 Outline of Last Lecture I. Wave CharacteristicsII. Frequency and PeriodOutline of Current Lecture I. Wave motionII. Transverse and Longitudinal WavesIII. Superposition PrincipleCurrent LectureWave Motion:- A disturbance in some indentifiable medium- Energy is transmitted from place to place- Medium does not travel between two places- Visualize a water wave- Pebble is dropped in a calm pool of water and ripples travel out from the point of where the pebble fellTransverse and Longitudinal Waves:- A pulse travels on a string- As the pulse passes point P on the string, the point moves up and then back to equilibrium- Each segment of the rope moves only perpendicular to the motion of the wave- This is known as a transverse wave- The individual points along the medium travel backa nd forth parallel to the motion of the pulse- This is known as a longitudinal wave- Sound waves are longitudinal wavesSuperposition Principle:- If two waves pass through the same region of space, they combine by a process called superposition- The resultant wave formed by the simultaneous influence of tow or more waves is the vector sum of the displacements due to each wave acting independently- If two pulses of the same size and shape on the same side of the rope arrive at a given point at the same time, they will combine to form a pulse that is twice the size of each individual
View Full Document
Unlocking...