Chapter 16
Waves
A wave is a disturbance that propagates from its source, repeating itself periodically, and is typically associated with simple harmonic motion.…
The simplest mechanical waves are associated with simple harmonic motion and repeat themselves for several cycles. These simple harmonic waves can be…
Mathematically, the motion of a wave can be studied using a wavefunction. Consider a string oscillating up and down in simple harmonic motion, having…
Consider the wave equation for a sinusoidal wave moving in the positive x-direction. The wave equation is a function of both position and time. From…
A wave propagates through a medium with a constant speed, known as a wave velocity. It is different from the speed of the particles of the medium,…
The speed of a wave depends on the characteristics of the medium. For example, in the case of a guitar, the strings vibrate to produce the sound. The…
In the case of stringed instruments like the guitar, the elastic property that determines the speed of the sound produced is its linear mass density…
All forms of waves carry energy; this is directly visualized in nature. For instance, the waves of earthquakes are so intense that they can shake…
The total energy associated with a wavelength is the sum of the potential energy and the kinetic energy. The average rate of energy transfer…
When two waves of the same nature occur in the same region simultaneously, they result in interference. Interference of waves implies that the net…
When a wave travels from one medium to another, it gets reflected at the boundary of the second medium. A common example of this is when a person…
When a wave propagates from one medium to another, part of it may get reflected in the first medium, and part of it may get transmitted to the second…
Sometimes waves do not seem to move; rather, they just vibrate in place. Unmoving waves can be seen on the surface of a glass of milk kept in a…
A close look at earthquakes provides evidence for the conditions appropriate for resonance, standing waves, and constructive and destructive…
The starting point for expressing the modes of standing waves is understanding the boundary conditions that the waves must follow. The boundary…
Shock waves nowadays are well known for their regenerative effects. Basic research findings showed that shock waves do cause a biological stimulus to…
This manuscript describes an experimental procedure that allows obtaining diverse quantitative information on temporal and spatial evolution of water…
Manipulation of fluids and particles by acoustic actuation at small scale is aiding the rapid growth of lab-on-a-chip applications. Megahertz-order…
