Physics 10

TTSAT/STEP

Name: Meljoy C. Acdal

Grade and section: 10 Aristotle
Teacher: Jovita P. Tan
Longitudinal waves are waves in which the vibration of the medium is parallel to the direction the
wave travels displacement of the medium is in the same (or opposite) direction of the wave
propagation. Mechanical longitudinal waves are also called compressional or compression waves,
because they produce compression and rarefaction when traveling through a medium, and pressure
waves, because they produce increases and decreases in pressure. Sound travels through longitudinal
waves. Sound travels through transversal waves in 90 degrees.[further explanation needed]

The other main type of wave is the transverse wave, in which the displacements of the medium are at
right angles to the direction of propagation. Transverse waves, for instance, describe some bulk sound
waves in solid materials (but not in fluids); these are also called "shear waves" to differentiate them
from the (longitudinal) pressure waves that these materials also support.

Longitudinal waves include sound waves (vibrations in pressure, a particle of displacement, and particle
velocity propagated in an elastic medium) and seismic P-waves (created by earthquakes and explosions).
In longitudinal waves, the displacement of the medium is parallel to the propagation of the wave. A
wave along the length of a stretched Slinky toy, where the distance between coils increases and
decreases, is a good visualization and contrasts with the standing wave along an oscillating guitar string
which is transverse.

Wave displacement

y(x,t)=ymsin(kx−ωt)

ym - amplitude of wave displacement

k - the wavenumber

x - the distance the point has traveled from the wave\'s source

ω - the angular frequency of the wave

t - the time elapsed

Wave length

λ= 2π/k

k - the wavenumber
Wave number

The displacements in points x1 and x1+λ must be the same:

ymsin(kx1)=ymsin(kx1+kλ)

The value of the sine repeats itself at multiples of 2Π, so:

kλ=2Π

k=2Π/λ , whers:

λ - the wavelength

Period

The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, T=2Π/ω

ω - the angular frequency of the wave

Angular frequency

ω=2Π/T

T - wave period

Superposition principle

The two waves pass through each other without being disturbed, and the net displacement is the sum of
the two individual displacements.

Two waves are travelling in the same direction on a string. Using the principle of superposition, the
resulting string displacement may be written as

y'(x,t)=y1(x,t)+y2(x,t)

y1(x,t),y2(x,t) - displacements of two waves

Interference

Interference is a phenomenon in which two waves superimpose to form a resultant wave of greater or
lower amplitude. Interference usually refers to the interaction of waves that are correlated or coherent
with each other, either because they come from the same source or because they have the same or
nearly the same frequency.
Two waves are travelling in the same direction on a string:

y1(x,t)=ymsin(kx−ωt)

y2(x,t)=ymsin(kx−ωt+Φ)

Due to superposition principle, the resultant of these waves equals:

y'(x,t)=[2ymcos(½Φ)]sin(kx−ωt+½Φ)

ym - amplitude of displacement

Φ - phase difference

k - the wavenumber

x - the distance the point has traveled from the wave\'s source

ω - the angular frequency of the wave

t - the time elapsed