Ministry of Higher Education 1st year Mechanical & Electrical Power

Institute of Aviation Engineering Physics (2)

and Technology 1st Term (2020-2021)

Sheet (2)
Superposition and Standing Waves

1) Two waves in one string are described by the wave functions

𝑦1 = (3.0 𝑐𝑚) cos (4.0𝑥 − 1.6𝑡)
𝑦2 = (4.0 𝑐𝑚) sin (5.0𝑥 − 2𝑡)
where y and x are in centimeters and t is in seconds. Find the superposition of the waves y1 +
y2 at the points (a) x = 1.00, t = 1.00; (b) x = 1.00, t = 0.500; and (c) x = 0.500, t = 0. (Remember
that the arguments of the trigonometric functions are in radians.)
Ans[ (a) – 1.65 cm, (b) – 6.02 cm,(c) 1.15 cm]

2) Two pulses A and B are moving in opposite directions along a taut string with a speed of
2.00 cm/s. The amplitude of A is twice the amplitude of B. The pulses are shown in Figure
P18.2 at t = 0. Sketch the shape of the string at t = 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3 s.

3) Two traveling sinusoidal waves are described by the wave functions

𝑦1 = (5.00 𝑚) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 [𝜋(4.00𝑥 − 1 200𝑡)]
𝑦2 = (5.00 𝑚) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 [𝜋(4.00𝑥 − 1 200𝑡 − 0.250)]
where x, y1, and y2 are in meters and t is in seconds. (a) What is the amplitude of the resultant
wave? (b) What is the frequency of the resultant wave?
Ans[ (a) 9.24 m, (b) 600 Hz]

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Ministry of Higher Education 1st year Mechanical & Electrical Power
Institute of Aviation Engineering Physics (2)
and Technology 1st Term (2020-2021)

4) Two identical loudspeakers are driven by the same oscillator of frequency 200 Hz. The
speakers are located on a vertical pole a distance of 4.00 m from each other. A man walks
straight toward the lower speaker in a direction perpendicular to the pole as shown in Figure
P18.7. (a) How many times will he hear a minimum in sound intensity? (b) How far is he from
the pole at these moments? Take the speed of sound to be 330 m/s and ignore any sound
reflection from the ground.

Ans[ (a) Two, (b) 9.28 m, 1.99 m]

5) Two sinusoidal waves in a string are defined by the functions

𝑦1 = (2.00 𝑐𝑚) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (20.0𝑥 − 32.0𝑡)
𝑦2 = (2.00 𝑐𝑚) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 (25.0𝑥 − 40.0𝑡)
where y1, y2, and x are in centimeters and t is in seconds. (a) What is the phase difference
between these two waves at the point x = 5.00 cm at t = 2.00 s? (b) What is the positive x value
closest to the origin for which the two phases differ by ±𝜋 at t = 2.00 s? (That is a location
where the two waves add to zero.)
Ans[ (a) 156o, (b) 0.0584 cm]

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Ministry of Higher Education 1st year Mechanical & Electrical Power
Institute of Aviation Engineering Physics (2)
and Technology 1st Term (2020-2021)

6) In air where the speed of sound is 344 m/s, two identical loudspeakers 10.0 m apart are
driven by the same oscillator with a frequency of f = 21.5 Hz (Fig. P18.10). (a) Explain why a
receiver at point A records a minimum in sound intensity from the two speakers. (b) If the
receiver is moved in the plane of the speakers, what path should it take so that the intensity
remains at a minimum? That is, determine the relationship between x and y (the coordinates
of the receiver) that causes the receiver to record a minimum in sound intensity. (c) Can the
receiver remain at a minimum and move far away from the two sources? If so, determine the
limiting form of the path it must take. If not, explain how far it can go.

7) Two identical loudspeakers are driven in phase by a common oscillator at 800 Hz and face
each other at a distance of 1.25 m. Locate the points along the line joining the two speakers
where relative minima of sound pressure amplitude would be expected. (Use v = 343 m/s.)
Ans[ 0.518 m, 0.303 m, 0.0891 m, 0.732 m 0.947 m, 1.16 m]

8) Two sinusoidal waves combining in a medium are described by the wave functions
𝑦1 = (3.0 𝑐𝑚) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜋(𝑥 + 0.60𝑡)
𝑦2 = (3.0 𝑐𝑚) 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜋(𝑥 − 0.60𝑡)
where x is in centimeters and t is in seconds. Determine the maximum transverse position of
an element of the medium at (a) x = 0.250 cm, (b) x = 0.500 cm, and (c) x = 1.50 cm. (d) Find
the three smallest values of x corresponding to antinodes.
Ans[ (a) 4.24 cm, (b) 6 cm,(c) 6 cm, (d) 0.5 cm, 1.5 cm, 2.5 cm,]

9) Find the fundamental frequency and the next three frequencies that could cause standing
wave patterns on a string that is 30.0 m long, has a mass per unit length of 9.00 x 10-3 kg/m,
and is stretched to a tension of 20.0 N.
Ans[ 0.786 Hz, 1.57 Hz, 2.36 Hz, 3.14 Hz]

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Ministry of Higher Education 1st year Mechanical & Electrical Power
Institute of Aviation Engineering Physics (2)
and Technology 1st Term (2020-2021)

10) The A string on a cello vibrates in its first normal mode with a frequency of 220 Hz. The
vibrating segment is 70.0 cm long and has a mass of 1.20 g. (a) Find the tension in the string.
(b) Determine the frequency of vibration when the string vibrates in three segments.
Ans[ (a) 163 N, (b) 660 Hz]

11) Review problem. A sphere of mass M is supported by a string that passes over a light
horizontal rod of length L (Fig. P18.23). Given that the angle is 𝜃 and that f represents the
fundamental frequency of standing waves in the portion of the string above the rod, determine
the mass of this portion of the string.

12) The Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, has the highest tides in the world. Assume in midocean
and at the mouth of the bay the Moon’s gravity gradient and the Earth’s rotation make the
water surface oscillate with an amplitude of a few centimeters and a period of 12 h 24 min. At
the head of the bay, the amplitude is several meters. Argue for or against the proposition that
the tide is magnified by standing-wave resonance. Assume the bay has a length of 210 km and
a uniform depth of 36.1 m. The speed of long-wavelength water waves is given by √g𝑑, where
d is the water’s depth.

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Ministry of Higher Education 1st year Mechanical & Electrical Power
Institute of Aviation Engineering Physics (2)
and Technology 1st Term (2020-2021)

13) An earthquake can produce a seiche in a lake in which the water sloshes back and forth
from end to end with remarkably large amplitude and long period. Consider a seiche produced
in a rectangular farm pond as shown in the cross-sectional view of Figure P18.27. (The figure
is not drawn to scale.) Suppose the pond is 9.15 m long and of uniform width and depth. You
measure that a pulse produced at one end reaches the other end in 2.50 s. (a) What is the wave
speed? (b) To produce the seiche, several people stand on the bank at one end and paddle
together with snow shovels, moving them in simple harmonic motion. What should be the
frequency of this motion?

Ans[ (a) 3.66 m/s, (b) 0.2 Hz]

14) Figure P18.28a is a photograph of a vibrating wine glass. A special technique makes black
and white stripes appear where the glass is moving, with closer spacing where the amplitude
is larger. Six nodes and six antinodes alternate around the rim of the glass in the vibration
photographed, but consider instead the case of a standingwave vibration with four nodes and
four antinodes equally spaced around the 20.0-cm circumference of the rim of a goblet. If
transverse waves move around the glass at 900 m/s, an opera singer would have to produce a
high harmonic with what frequency to shatter the glass with a resonant vibration as shown in
Figure P18.28b?

Ans[ 9 kHz]
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Ministry of Higher Education 1st year Mechanical & Electrical Power
Institute of Aviation Engineering Physics (2)
and Technology 1st Term (2020-2021)

15) Calculate the length of a pipe that has a fundamental frequency of 240 Hz assuming the
pipe is (a) closed at one end and (b) open at both ends.
Ans[ (a) 0.357 m, (b) 0.715 m]

16) A shower stall has dimensions 86.0 cm x 86.0 cm x 210 cm. If you were singing in this
shower, which frequencies would sound the richest (because of resonance)? Assume the stall
acts as a pipe closed at both ends, with nodes at opposite sides. Assume the voices of various
singers range from 130 Hz to 2 000 Hz. Let the speed of sound in the hot air be 355 m/s.

17) An air column in a glass tube is open at one end and closed at the other by a movable
piston. The air in the tube is warmed above room temperature, and a 384-Hz tuning fork is
held at the open end. Resonance is heard when the piston is 22.8 cm from the open end and
again when it is 68.3 cm from the open end. (a) What speed of sound is implied by these data?
(b) How far from the open end will the piston be when the next resonance is heard?
Ans[ (a) 350 m/s, (b) 1.14 m]

18) With a particular fingering, a flute sounds a note with frequency 880 Hz at 20.0°C. The
flute is open at both ends. (a) Find the air column length. (b) Find the frequency the flute
produces at the beginning of the halftime performance at a late-season American football
game, when the ambient temperature is -5.00°C and the musician has not had a chance to warm
up the flute.
Ans[ (a) 0.195 m, (b) 841 Hz]

19) An aluminum rod 1.60 m long is held at its center. It is stroked with a rosin-coated cloth
to set up a longitudinal vibration. The speed of sound in a thin rod of aluminum is 5 100 m/s.
(a) What is the fundamental frequency of the waves established in the rod? (b) What harmonics
are set up in the rod held in this manner? (c) What If? What would be the fundamental
frequency if the rod were copper, in which the speed of sound is 3 560 m/s?
Ans[ (a) 1.59 kHz, (c) 1.11 kHz]

20) An aluminum rod is clamped one-quarter of the way along its length and set into
longitudinal vibration by a variable-frequency driving source. The lowest frequency that
produces resonance is 4 400 Hz. The speed of sound in an aluminum rod is 5 100 m/s.
Determine the length of the rod.
Ans[ 1.16 m]

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Ministry of Higher Education 1st year Mechanical & Electrical Power
Institute of Aviation Engineering Physics (2)
and Technology 1st Term (2020-2021)

21) In certain ranges of a piano keyboard, more than one string is tuned to the same note to
provide extra loudness. For example, the note at 110 Hz has two strings at this frequency. If
one string slips from its normal tension of 600 N to 540 N, what beat frequency is heard when
the hammer strikes the two strings simultaneously?
Ans[ 5.64 beats/s]

22) A student holds a tuning fork oscillating at 256 Hz. He walks toward a wall at a constant
speed of 1.33 m/s. (a) What beat frequency does he observe between the tuning fork and its
echo? (b) How fast must he walk away from the wall to observe a beat frequency of 5.00 Hz?
Ans[ (a) 1.99 Hz, (b) 3.38 m/s]

23) Two train whistles have identical frequencies of 180 Hz. When one train is at rest in the
station and the other is moving nearby, a commuter standing on the station platform hears
beats with a frequency of 2.00 beats/s when the whistles operate together. What are the two
possible speeds and directions the moving train can have?
Ans[ 3.85 m/s (Away From Station), 3.77 m/s (Toward The Station)]

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