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2. Wave Interaction

Standing Waves

Sometimes waves do not seem to move and they appear to just stand in place, vibrating. Such waves are called standing waves and are formed by the superposition of two or more waves moving in opposite directions. The waves move through each other with their disturbances adding as they go by. If the two waves have the same amplitude and wavelength, then they alternate between constructive and destructive interference. Standing waves created by the superposition of two identical waves moving in opposite directions are illustrated in Figure 13.14.

Two identical waves moving in opposite directions alternate between creating no disturbance during destructive interference and doubling the disturbance during constructive interference.

Figure 13.14 A standing wave is created by the superposition of two identical waves moving in opposite directions. The oscillations are at fixed locations in space and result from alternating constructive and destructive interferences.

As an example, standing waves can be seen on the surface of a glass of milk in a refrigerator. The vibrations from the refrigerator motor create waves on the milk that oscillate up and down but do not seem to move across the surface. The two waves that produce standing waves may be due to the reflections from the side of the glass.

Earthquakes can create standing waves and cause constructive and destructive interferences. As the earthquake waves travel along the surface of Earth and reflect off denser rocks, constructive interference occurs at certain points. As a result, areas closer to the epicenter are not damaged while areas farther from the epicenter are damaged.

Standing waves are also found on the strings of musical instruments and are due to reflections of waves from the ends of the string. Figure 13.15 and Figure 13.16 show three standing waves that can be created on a string that is fixed at both ends. When the wave reaches the fixed end, it has nowhere else to go but back where it came from, causing the reflection. The nodes are the points where the string does not move; more generally, the nodes are the points where the wave disturbance is zero in a standing wave. The fixed ends of strings must be nodes, too, because the string cannot move there.

The antinode is the location of maximum amplitude in standing waves. The standing waves on a string have a frequency that is related to the propagation speed vwvw of the disturbance on the string. The wavelength λλ is determined by the distance between the points where the string is fixed in place.

One antinode and two nodes are created by a single standing wave.

Figure 13.15 The figure shows a string oscillating with its maximum disturbance as the antinode.

Two antinodes and three nodes are created by two standing waves. Three antinodes and four nodes are created by three standing waves.

Figure 13.16 The figure shows a string oscillating with multiple nodes.

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