Course code: EAB1110

Wave Motion
A Wave is a disturbance that travels through matter or space
accompanied by a transfer of energy. Waves transfer energy from
one place to another, but they do not necessarily transfer any
mass. Light, sound, and waves in the ocean are common examples
of waves.
 Wave types

Mechanical Wave Electromagnetic wave

It is a disturbance which It is a type of waves that
needs a medium to doesn't need a medium to
propagate through it. propagate through it.

Transverse wave Longitudinal wave

In a transverse wave, the In a longitudinal wave, the
vibration of the individual vibration of the individual
particles of the medium is particles of the medium is
perpendicular to the direction parallel to the direction of
of wave propagation. wave propagation.
Mechanical Waves propagate through a medium, and the substance of this medium is
deformed. The deformation reverses itself owing to restoring forces resulting from its
deformation.
classification of waves according to the number of dimensions in which the energy is
transferred as the following:

Plane
Waves

Spherical Wave Cylindrical

Front
Waves Waves

Elliptical
Waves
Transverse Wave
Pulse on a String
A wave is a periodic disturbance
traveling through a medium.
A traveling wave or pulse that causes
the elements of the disturbed medium
to move perpendicular to the direction
of propagation is called a transverse
wave.
 To create the wave, you would
move the end of the string up and
down repeatedly.
The particle motion is shown by the
blue arrow.
The direction of propagation is shown
by the red arrow.
Pulse on a String
The hand is the source of the disturbance.
The string is the medium through which the pulse travels.
 Individual elements of the string are disturbed from their equilibrium position.
 The elements are connected together so they influence each other.

The pulse has a definite height.

The pulse has a definite speed of propagation along the medium.
The shape of the pulse changes very little as it travels along the string.
Longitudinal Wave

A traveling wave or pulse that causes the elements of the disturbed medium to
move parallel to the direction of propagation is called a longitudinal wave.
 Sound waves are another example of longitudinal waves.
The displacement of the coils is parallel to the propagation.
Complex Waves

Some waves exhibit a combination of transverse and longitudinal waves.

Surface water waves are an example.
 The elements of water at the surface move in nearly circular paths.
 The disturbance has both transverse and longitudinal components.
Mathematical Description of a Wave
• Many characteristics of periodic waves can be described by using the concepts of wave

speed, amplitude, period, frequency, and wavelength. Though we need a full

detailed description of the positions and motions of individual particles of

the medium at any time during wave propagation. For this description, we
need the concept of a wave function, a function that describes the position of
any particle in the medium at any time. We will concentrate on sinusoidal
waves, in which each particle undergoes simple harmonic motion about its
equilibrium position.
Traveling Pulse
At any time, the pulse can be represented by some mathematical function that we will
write as y(x, t). At t =0, as in Figure, let’s write this as y (x, 0) = f (x), where f (x)
describes the shape of the pulse in space. The function y(x, t), sometimes called the wave
function, depends on the two variables x and t. For this reason, it is described as “y as a
function of x and t. As the pulse passes through P, the y coordinate of this element
increases, reaches a maximum, and then decreases to zero. The wave function y(x, t)
represents the y coordinate—the transverse position—of any element located at position
x at any time t.
We assume the shape of the pulse does not change with time. Therefore, at time t, the
shape of the pulse is the same as it was at time t = 0 as in Figure a. Consequently, an
element of the string at x at this time has the same y position as an element located at
x - vt had at time t = 0:

If the pulse travels to the left, the transverse positions of elements of the string
are described by
A pulse moving to the right along the x axis is represented by the wave function:

where x and y are measured in centimeters and t is measured in seconds.

Find expressions for the wave function at t =0, t =1 s, and t =2 s.
Sinusoidal Waves
The wave represented by the curve shown is a sinusoidal wave.
It is the same curve as sin  plotted against the simplest example of a periodic continuous wave.

A one-dimensional sinusoidal wave traveling to the right with a speed v. The brown curve represents a
snapshot of the wave at t =0, and the blue curve represents a snapshot at some later time t.
Wave Function for a Sinusoidal Wave:
Consider a sinusoidal wave traveling to the right on a long string. Figure 1
shows the position of the wave at t = 0. Because the wave is sinusoidal, we
expect the wave function at this instant to be expressed as:

𝑦 𝑥, 0 = 𝐴 sin(𝛼𝑥)

where A is the amplitude and 𝛼 is a constant to be determined.

1
From the figure: 𝑦 = 0 𝑎𝑡 𝑥 = 𝜆
2
1
∴ 0 = 𝐴 sin 𝛼 𝜆
2
𝛼
sin 𝜆 = 0
2
𝛼
𝜆 =𝜋
2
Figure 1
 2𝜋
𝛼=
𝜆
2𝜋
𝑦 𝑥, 0 = 𝐴 sin 𝑥
𝜆
This function describes the transverse position 𝑦 of the element of the string located at
each value of 𝑥 at time 𝑡 = 0. Because the speed of the wave is 𝑣, the wave has traveled
to the right a distance 𝑣𝑡 at the time 𝑡 . Consequently, an element of the string at 𝑥 at this
time t has the same 𝑦 position as an element located at (𝑥 − 𝑣𝑡) had at time 𝑡 = 0.

∵ 𝑦 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝑦 𝑥 − 𝑣𝑡, 0

2𝜋
∵ 𝑦 𝑥 − 𝑣𝑡, 0 = 𝐴 sin (𝑥 − 𝑣𝑡)
𝜆

2𝜋
∴ 𝑦 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐴 sin 𝑥 − 𝑣𝑡
𝜆
 2𝜋 𝜆
∴ 𝑦(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐴 sin (𝑥 − 𝑡)
𝜆 𝑇
2𝜋 2𝜋
∴ 𝑦(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑥− 𝑡
𝜆 𝑇

2𝜋 2𝜋
𝑘= & 𝑤=
𝜆 𝑇

∴ 𝑦(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑘𝑥 − 𝑤𝑡
In general:
𝑦 𝑥, 𝑡 = 𝐴 sin 𝑘𝑥 − 𝑤𝑡 + 𝜙 ⟹ 𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 (𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑥 − 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)

Or

𝑦(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑘𝑥 + 𝑤𝑡 + 𝜙 ⟹ 𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 (𝑁𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑥 − 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛)

 Properties of wave function:

• Wave number (𝒌)

𝟐𝝅
𝒌=
𝝀

• Angular velocity (𝒘)

𝟐𝝅
𝒘= = 𝟐𝝅𝒇
𝑻
Equation of wave function:
∴ 𝑦(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐴 sin 𝑘𝑥 − 𝑤𝑡 + 
• Wave propagation speed (𝒗) ∴ 𝑦(𝑥, 𝑡) = 𝐴 cos 𝑘𝑥 − 𝑤𝑡
𝝀 𝒘
𝒗 = 𝝀𝒇 = =
𝑻 𝒌
If x   at t = 0, the wave function can be generalized to y = A sin (k x – t + )
where  is called the phase constant.
A sinusoidal wave traveling in the positive x direction has an amplitude of 15 cm, a wavelength of
40 cm, and a frequency of 8 Hz. The vertical position of an element of the medium at t = 0 and x = 0
is also 15 cm.
a) Find the wave number 𝒌, period 𝑻, angular frequency 𝝎, and speed 𝒗 of the wave.
b) Determine the phase constant 𝝓 and write an expression for the wave function.
Example (3)
Tsunami On December 26, 2004, a great earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra and
triggered immense waves that killed some 200000 people. Satellites observing these waves from
space measured 800 Km from one wave crest to the next and a period between waves of 1 hour.
What was the speed of these waves in m/s ?

Solution
The wave speed is:
Example (4)
A certain transverse wave is described by:

Determine the wave's (a) Amplitude (b) wavelength (c) frequency (d) speed of propagation and (e)
direction of propagation.

The wave equation is:

Since there is a minus sign in front of the t/T term, the wave is travelling in the positive + x-direction.
Example (5)
Transverse waves on a string have wave speed 8 m/sec, amplitude 0.07 m and wavelength 0.32
m, The wave travels in the – x direction, and at t=0 and x=0 end of the string has its maximum
upward displacement (a) Find the frequency, period, and wave number of these waves. (b) Write
a wave function describing the wave. (c) Find the transverse displacement of a particle at
𝑥=0.36 𝑚 at time 𝑡=0.15 𝑠𝑒𝑐,
Solution
Sinusoidal Wave on a String
To create a series of pulses, the string can be attached to an oscillating
blade. The wave consists of a series of identical waveforms. The
relationships between speed,velocity, and period.

also oscillates vertically with simple harmonic motion.

Therefore, every element of the string can be treated as
a simple harmonic oscillator vibrating with a frequency
equal to the frequency of oscillation of the blade.
Notice that: while each element oscillates in the y
direction, the wave travels to the right in the 1x
direction with a speed v.
Sinusoidal Wave on a String, 2
If we define t = 0 as the time for which the configuration of the
string is as
shown in Figure a, the wave function can be written from
Equation as:

where we simplify y(x, t) by writing it simply as y. We can use

this expression to describe the motion of any element of the
string. An element at point P (or any other element of the string)
moves only vertically, and so its x coordinate remains constant.
Therefore, the transverse speed vy (not to be confused with the
wave speed v) and the transverse acceleration ay of elements of
the string are:

The maximum magnitudes of the transverse speed and transverse acceleration

are simply the absolute values of the coefficients of the cosine and sine functions:
The Speed of Waves on Strings
One aspect of the behavior of linear mechanical waves is that the wave
speed depends only on the properties of the medium through which the
wave travels. Waves for which the amplitude A is small relative to the
wavelength λ can be represented as linear waves.
we determine the speed of a transverse wave traveling on a
stretched string.
The horizontal components of cancel, and each vertical component acts downward.
Hence, the magnitude of the total radial force on the element is . Because the element is
small, is small and we can use the small-angle approximation
The magnitude of the total radial force is:

The element has mass where is the mass per unit length of the string. Because the
element forms part of a circle and subtends an angle of at the center, ,
The element of the string is modeled as a particle under a net force. Therefore, applying Newton’s
second law to this element in the radial direction gives.

𝑭 = 𝒎𝒂
Where acceleration

Speed of a wave on a stretched string

This proof does not assume any particular shape for the pulse. We therefore conclude that a pulse or
a wave of any shape will travel on the string with speed, without any change in pulse shape.
Example
A uniform string has a mass of 0.3 kg and a length of 6 m. The string passes over a pulley and
supports a 2 kg object as view in figure. Find the speed of a pulse traveling along this string.

Apply the particle in equilibrium model to the block:

The tension in the string:

Where,
Energy Transfer by Sinusoidal Waves on Strings
The source of the energy is the vibrating blade at the left end of the string. We can
consider the string to be a non-isolated system. As the blade performs work on the
end of the string, moving it up and down, energy enters the system of the string
and propagates along its length. Let’s focus our attention on an infinitesimal
element of the string of length dx and mass dm. We can model each element of the
string as a particle in simple harmonic motion, with the oscillation in the y
direction. All elements have the same angular frequency ω and the same amplitude
A. The kinetic energy K.E associated with a moving particle is.

kinetic energy dK associated with the up and

down motion of this element is.
The mass dm of the element of length dx is
equal to µdx.
The general transverse speed of
an element of the medium using
If we take a snapshot of the wave at time t =0, the kinetic energy of a given element is

There is potential energy associated with each element of the string due to its displacement from the equilibrium
position and the restoring forces from neighboring elements. A similar analysis to that above for the total potential
energy U in one wavelength gives exactly the same result:

The total energy in one wavelength of the wave is

the sum of the potential and kinetic energies:
As the wave moves along the string, this amount of energy passes by a given point on the string
during a time interval of one period of the oscillation. Therefore, the power P, or rate of energy
transfer T associated with the mechanical wave, is
MW

The power transfer by a sinusoidal wave on a string is proportional to the

 Square of the frequency

 Square of the amplitude
 Wave speed
A taut string for which µ = 5 x 10-2 kg/m is under a tension of 80 N. How much power must
be supplied to the string to generate sinusoidal waves at a frequency of 60 Hz and an
amplitude of 6 cm?