Tutorial exercises for oscillations and waves:

1) You have an oscillator where the spring constant depends on the temperature.
Suppose that when the temperature changes from T1 to T2, and the spring constant
changes from k1 to k2. The oscillator is set in motion at T1. What is the amplitude of
the oscillation when the temperature changes to T2?
2) a) Find the Doppler shift for a stationary source and observer moving away from
the source to show:

f '= f

c vo
c

where v0 is the velocity is away from the source.

b) Combine this with the result for the source

moving towards the observer to show:

c) For velocities much less than c show that:

f '= f

c v0
c vs

" v v %
f ' = f $1+ s o '
#
c &

3) The weather radar sends out pulses that are 1s long, with a frequency of 3.0
GHz. Find:
a) Time of flight per kilometer of distance from the radar tower.
b) The frequency shift of the returned pulse as a function of the radial wind
velocity. Note that for part b, you need to imagine the reflection points act as both a
moving observer and a moving source!
4) A Tsunami is triggered in the middle of the deep ocean. The wavelengths of the
waves that make up the Tsunami are much larger than the depth of the ocean. How
fast does the wave travel?
5) 3 waves with amplitudes 1,2 and 3mm travel along a string. If the phases of the
three waves are 0, 60 and 120 degrees, respectively, use a phasor diagram to find the
total wave amplitude.
6) a) What is the speed of sound in helium?
Imagine you have a loudspeaker in helium. You drive it at a frequency of 1kHz. The
sound travels into normal air, and then into your ears.
b) What is the wavelength of the 1kHz sound wave in helium?
c) What is the wavelength and frequency of the sound in air?
d) Will it sound different to a loudspeaker driven at 1kHz in air?
e) What is the amplitude of the wave reflected from the helium/air interface.