MCE 565 Wave Motion and Vibration in Continuous Media

Fall 2015
Homework Assignment 1

1-1. Separate the variables in the three-dimensional wave equation in Cartesian coordinates to
derive the solution form (1.20) in the class notes.

1-2. Consider the wave equation in cylindrical form (1.22). Looking for solutions of the form (r,t)
= R(r)eit, show that

J ( r / c )
R(r ) o
Yo (r / c )

Next by defining the Hankel functions: Ho(1)(z) = Jo(z) + iYo(z), Ho(2)(z) = Jo(z) - iYo(z), show that
the R solution may also be written as

H o(1) (r / c)
R (r ) ( 2 )
H o ( r / c )

The Hankel function form is often more useful since for large r, Ho(1)(r/c)eit represents cylindrical
waves moving inward toward the origin while Ho(2)(r/c)eit represents outward traveling waves
(see e.g. Hildebrand, Advanced Calculus for Applications, Second Ed., pp 469-470).

1-3. Show that the solution to the wave equation for the case with spherical symmetry (i.e.
independence of both the angle coordinates and ), is given by

(r , t ) [ f (r ct ) g ( r ct )] / r

where f and g are arbitrary functions of the indicated variables.

1-4. Consider the superposition of two simple harmonic waves of the same amplitude but with
different phases. Explicitly shown that:

i.) the superposition of two waves traveling in the same direction yields another simple
harmonic wave of identical frequency, see (1.93) and (1.94)

ii.) the superposition of two waves traveling in opposite directions yields a stationary
wave which is fixed in space, see (1.95) and (1.96)