4 min read•june 18, 2024
Saarah Hasan
Daniella Garcia-Loos
Saarah Hasan
Daniella Garcia-Loos
First off, what even is a ? Don’t panic, it’s not too complicated!
A periodic wave is a wave that has a repeating continuous pattern; it’s essentially a wave that repeats for several cycles. It can be characterized by its wavelength, period, , and . All the waves below can be considered periodic waves.
Taken from Wikimedia Commons
Here are some key points about periodic waves:
In Physics 2, we mainly focus on simple periodic waves that can be described with equations involving a sine or cosine function, as well as the wavelength, amplitude, and frequency of the wave.
As a function of time, the equation would look like:
F(x)=A cos (2π/λ*x)
where:
Let's practice together a little.
Take a look at this graph, where the x-axis is the horizontal position and the y-axis is the vertical height of the wave.
What's the general equation for periodic waves that are graphed as a function of position?
F(x)=A cos (2π/λ*x) What's the amplitude for this wave? (What's highest/lowest point on the graph?)
4 What's the wavelength? (Measure the distance from crest to crest, or trough to trough)
(6-3) = 3 And that's it! The equation for this wave would look like:
f(x) = A cos (2π/λx) ➡️ f(x) = 4 cos(2π/3x) Here are some key points about the :
The wave equation is a mathematical equation that describes the behavior of waves. It is a that describes the relationship between the displacement of a wave and the time and space variables that define the wave.
The wave equation is used to describe a wide range of waves, including sound waves, light waves, and water waves.
The wave equation is a second-order differential equation, meaning that it involves second-order derivatives of the displacement with respect to time and space.
The general form of the wave equation is: ∂^2y/∂t^2 = c^2 ∂^2y/∂x^2
Where y is the displacement of the wave, t is time, x is space, and c is the speed of the wave.
B) 0.020 s
C) 2.55 Hz
D) 50 Hz
E) 256 Hz
(A) 4 cm
(B) 5 cm
(C) 8 cm
(D) 10 cm
(E) 16 cm
(B) 25 cm/s
(C) 50 cm/s
(D) 100 cm/s
(E) 200 cm/s
A) 0.5 m
B) 0.75 m
C) 1 m
D) 2 m
E) 4 m
A) Cy
B) Cz
C) Ox
D) Oy
E) Cy , Cz, Ox, Oy