Displacement of Functions:

The top plot shows a function f (x) which peaks when its argument (x) equals b. In the bottom plot, Ive plotted the same function f , but now every occurance of the the variable x has been replaced with the quantity x a. Since the structure of f hasnt changed, it must still peak when its argument is equal to b, hence the shape of f is preserved in the bottom plot but its location is displaced an amount +a along the x axis. QUESTION: What would f (x + 2b) look like?

Traveling Pulses:
Suppose we wanted to make the pulse represented by function f move in the positive x direction with a speed vx . How would we write that? Simple! You just make the shift a change with time. Let a = vx t + a0 , where a0 is a constant used to get the position of f at t = 0 correct. Then f (x, t) = f (x vx t a0 ) describes a pulse with the shape f (x) moving in the positive x direction. QUESTION: How would the equation for a pulse traveling in the x direction dier?

Traveling Waves:

Consider the function f (x) = A cos(kx). A is the amplitude, and k is called the wave number. Think of k as the conversion between distance and phase: , where 2 is the number of radians in one cycle and is the distance k = 2 spanned by one cycle (the wavelength). To make f travel with a speed vx in the positive x direction, replace x with x vx t a0 . f (x, t) f (x, t) f (x, t) f (x, t) = = = = f (x vx t a0 ) A cos(k [x vx t a0 ]) A cos(kx kvx t ka0 ) A cos(kx t )

The last step may not be obvious. If the period (T ) is to make any sense, the coecient of t must equal our usual conversion . Hence, we gain a new identity, = kvx . It should also be reasonably clear that ka0 represents the phase at x = 0 at t = 0, so we replace the combination by a more easily recognizable symbol for phase shift, . Miscellaneous Relations: Were now in position to map out a handful of fundamental relationships between the angular frequency ( ), the period (T ), the wavelength (), the frequency (f ), the phase velocity (v ) and the wavenumber (k ) of a traveling wave. . . 2 2 = k= = kv = 2f T 1 f = v T = = vT f The amplitude and phase shift must be obtained from initial conditions.

Physical waves:
There are two types of physical waves well be concerned with: If the motion of the medium conveying the wave is perpendicular to the direction of travel of the wave, the wave is said to be a transverse wave.

 If the motion of the medium conveying the wave is along the direction of travel of the wave (parallel and anti-parallel), the wave is said to be a longitudinal wave.

Superposition:
Superposition is just a fancy way of saying that the eect of two traveling waves traversing the same point in a medium is to displace the medium at that point by the sum of the displacements caused by each of the waves individually. Thats a fancy way of saying this: Say wave A, described by ya = A cos(ka x a t) and wave B, described by yb = B cos(kb x b t) both travel through the same rope. The resulting wave would look like: y (x, t) = A cos(ka x a t) + B cos(kb x b t) Seems pretty intuitive, eh? The problem is, this doesnt work when things get non-linear. Unless you are specically told otherwise, you can almost certainly assume superposition holds.

Fourier Series:
In short, all periodic functions (functions that repeat at constant intervals) can be written as a superposition of terms corresponding to simple harmonic

oscillations. Suppose you are given some function y (t) that repeats with a period T . You can write: y (t) = A0 + A1 cos(t) + A2 cos(2t) + A3 cos(3t) . . . + B1 sin(t) + B2 sin(2t) + B3 sin(3t) . . . There are terms corresponding to oscillations at an angular frequency and , and is called the fundato oscillations at integer multiples of . = 2 T mental frequency. The nth integer multiple is called the nth harmonic of the fundamental frequency. The constants Ai and Bi can be determined by mathematical recipe (usually presented in classes on Linear Algebra).

Some Wave Speeds:

Pulse in stretched string: v = T where T is the tension in the string and is the linear mass density.
B where B is the Bulk Modulus of Elasticity for Sound in solid: v = 0 the medium and 0 is the volume mass density.
0 Sound in gas: v = P where is the ratio of specic heats for the 0 gas, P0 is the gas pressure and 0 is the volume mass density.

Sound in air at STP: 331.4 m/s. Electromagnetic waves in vacuum: 3 108 m/s.