🔖 Topics

  • Types of Waves
  • Harmonic Traveling Plane Waves
  • Graphing Waves
  • Superposition

🎯 Objectives

  • Identify the features of a harmonic traveling wave and describe its motion
  • Calculate properties of a harmonic traveling wave including angular frequency, wavenumber, speed, amplitude, and phase
  • Sketch snapshots of waves at different positions and times

📋 Sequence

  • Vocabulary
    • Wave - A disturbance in a medium that carries energy without the net movement of particles
    • Transverse Wave (S Wave) - Motion of particles is perpendicular to propagation
    • Longitudinal Wave (P Wave) - Motion of particles is parallel to propagation
    • Crest vs. Trough
    • Wavelength
    • Frequency
    • Harmonic wave - Sinusoidal shape
    • Traveling wave - Retains it shape as it moves
    • Superposition - When two or more waves overlap, the net disturbance is the sum of the disturbances due to each wave
  • What does it mean for a wave to have a velocity?
  • What are some of the assumptions we make about waves propagating in a medium?
  • Harmonic traveling wave equation: \(y(x,t) = A sin(\omega t \pm kx + \phi)\)
  • Harmonic traveling wave speed:
    • Set phase equal to zero
    • Set \(C = \omega t \pm kx\)
    • Solve for \(x/t\)
    • \(k\) is your wavenumber \(k = \omega/v =2\pi f / \lambda f = 2\pi / \lambda\)
    • \(v = \omega / k = f\lambda \)
  • Sketch a few harmonic traveling waves

🖥️ Animations, Simulations, Activities

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📝 Practice Problems

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✅ Partial Solutions

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📘 Connected Resources

  • Giambattista, Alan, et al. College Physics With an Integrated Approach to Forces and Kinematics. 5th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2020.