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Progressive and Stationary Waves

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59 views2 pages

Progressive and Stationary Waves

Uploaded by

Kevin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Progressive and Stationary Waves

Progressive waves
• A progressive wave carries energy from one place to another without transferring any
material.
- Transverse - direction of oscillation is perpendicular to direction of energy
transfer
- Longitudinal - oscillation is parallel to energy transfer
• Displacement - how far a point on the wave has moved from the undisturbed position
• Amplitude — maximum magnitude of displacement
• Phase — measurement of the position of a certain point along the wave cycle
2πd
phase difference in radians =
for distance d apart
λ
• Polarised waves oscillate in only one direction
- Polarisation can only happen for transverse waves
- A polarising filter only transmits waves in one plane
• Superposition occurs when two or more waves pass through each other - the
displacements due to each wave combine.
- Principle of superposition: “when two or more waves cross, the resultant
displacement equals the vector sum of the individual displacements”

Stationary waves
• Stationary wave = “superposition of two progressive waves with the same frequency/
wavelength”. Unlike progressive waves no energy is transferred by a stationary wave.
- Stationary waves vibrating freely do not transfer any energy to their surroundings
• Stationary waves on strings and pipes are similar:
λ 3λ
- ƒ 0: l = 2ƒ0: l = λ 3ƒ0:c l =
where l is a fixed length of string or open pipe.
2 2
λ
- The distance between adjacent nodes is
2
- A node is a point of zero displacement, an antinode a point of maximum
displacement
• The longer/heavier/looser the string, the lower the resonant frequency μ = mass per
unit length, T = tension
1 T
ƒ0 =
2l μ

Notes by Revisely and Milo Noblet 1 find more notes and resources at revisely.co.uk
• When in phase the two progressive waves reinforce each other to create a larger wave
1 λ
• 4 of a cycle later the waves have moved 4 in opposite directions so are now in
antiphase and cancel each other out
1
• After another 4 of a cycle they are back in phase with the same resultant as before, but
reversed.
The points of zero displacement remain in constant positions throughout. Between these
points (nodes) the stationary wave oscillates.
• Phase difference:
- 0 / 2π if two particles are between adjacent nodes or separated by an even
number of nodes
- π if separated by an odd number of nodes
In a stationary wave all particles except those at the nodes vibrate at the same frequency.
The amplitude varies from zero at nodes to maximum at antinodes (whereas in a
progressive wave it would be the same for all particles).
Phase difference between two particles is nλ where n is the number of nodes between
2πd
the particles - for a progressive wave phase difference =
λ

Notes by Revisely and Milo Noblet 2 find more notes and resources at revisely.co.uk

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