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Traveling Waves

  • A mechanical wave is a self sustaining disturbance of a medium that propagates within the medium carrying energy and momentum.
  • Mechanical waves require (1) a source of disturbance, (2) a medium that can be disturbed, and (3) a mechanism by which a portion of the region can influence adjacent regions.
  • In a transverse wave, such as a wave on a string, the displacement is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave.
  • In a longitudinal wave, such as a compression wave in a spring, the displacement is along the direction of propagation of the wave.
  • The speed of a mechanical wave is determined by the properties of the medium in which the wave propagates.
  • A wave on a string travels with a speed equal to SQRT (T/mu), where SQRT stands for square root, T is the tension in the string, and mu is the mass of the string divided by its length.
  • If a pulse strikes a fixed boundary, the reflected wave will be inverted. No inversion occurs if the boundary is free.

Traveling Waves

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AP Physics B