Wave Properties

Hamid Ali
Partner’s Name: Ben Bourke
09-17-04 and 09-20-04
Purpose:

The purpose of the lab is to observe the different properties of waves, and to learn

about how to create a lab report.

Procedure:

See Attached

Data:

A. Transverse and Longitudinal Waves

1. I observed that when a wider motion was made shaking the slinky a bigger wave was

formed, which traveled slowly, yet with a more rapid shaking of the slinky a smaller

wave was formed which traveled faster.

2. The longitudinal waves traveled much faster than the transverse waves, and sometimes

reflected back to their starting position, depending on the amount of slinky that was

gathered towards the person.

B. The Speed of All Waves of the Same Kind in a Given Medium

Speed Amplitude
First Wave 0.25 meters per High
second
Second Wave 69 milliseconds for Small
four meters

C. Wavelength and Frequency

Hand Motion Wavelength Frequency

First Wave Wider Shaking of 3 ¾ meters Slow
spring
Second Wave Rapid, more narrow 1 meter High
shaking of spring

D. The Interference of Waves

 When we my partner and I, both shook the spring in a unified manner, the waves

seemed to peak out, when the spring resembled a big pointed arrow in the center, which

pointed toward the desks in the room. When we went in opposite directions the waves

seemed to travel normally, meaning, I saw no evidence of interference. When we both

sent longitudinal waves at each other the waves appeared to collide at a central point and

then keep on going, and when there were reflections of these waves the waves merely

passed through each other.

E. Reflected Waves

1. When the wave was first sent, it pointed towards the desks, but its reflection pointed

towards the team board, and was smaller in amplitude than the first wave

2. When a wave of small amplitude was sent to the string, the string only shook a little bit