Dispersion Relation and Cutoff Frequency for a Slinky

Morgan Cheatham
Vibrations, Waves, and Optics

Abstract-

In this experiment we collected data on the wave number and the angular velocity of a

slinky hanging from above by strings. We used this information to make a graph showing

the dispersion relation of the wave on the slinky. We then compared our measured cutoff

frequency with the theoretical cutoff frequency, found using equations from another

article. We then compared this to data collected when the slinky was hanging from

shorter strings.

I. Introduction/Background

The goal of this experiment was to find the dispersion relation and determine the

cutoff frequency of a slinky suspended from above by strings. We also looked at how

these things depended on the length of the string.

The phase velocity is the velocity at which points of the same phase propagate. This

is represented on the ω(k) graph by the slope of a line connecting any point to the origin.

The group velocity is the velocity at which the entire wave propagates. This is

represented as the local slope of the ω(k) graph.

Dispersion happens when different parts of a wave are traveling at different speeds.

Therefore, the angular frequency of the wave changes in a nonlinear way as the wave

number changes. The relation between the angular frequency and the wave number is

called the dispersion relation. Another way to think about dispersion is when the

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propagation velocity of the wave depends on its frequency, in other words the phase

velocity and the group velocity are not the same. We don’t however have dispersion if the

velocity of the wave is constant.

We can graph the dispersion relation to get a clear view of what is happening. We do

this by graphing the angular frequency, ω vs. the wave number, k. These values can be

2π 2π
determined using the relationships ω = where T is the period, and k = where λ is
T λ

the wavelength. The period and the wavelength are both easy to measure, and using them

we can plot ω(k). If this graph is linear, then there is no dispersion. However if there is a

non-linear relationship, then there is dispersion.

The cutoff frequency is the frequency below which a wave will no longer propagate

in the medium. The cutoff frequency can be found by using the dispersion relation, and

finding ω when k=0.

II. Experiment

We collected data of the slinky driven at different frequencies to determine the

frequency and wave number of the slinky, and then plotted the data. We did this for two

different lengths of string.

There were seven people involved in the experiment. We had one person that drove

the slinky for five oscillations at each different frequency. Another person took a picture

of the wave as it propagated down the slinky so that we could find the wavelengths. Four

people used stopwatches to find the time it took for the oscillations so that we could find

the period. The last person recorded all the data using Excel. The group I worked in did

this for the strings at 72 cm. We used our measured period to find the angular frequency.

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We used LoggerPro to measure the wavelength and find the wave number for each wave.

We then used Excel to plot the graph.

III. Results

Figures 1 and 2 show the measurements found by both groups.

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12
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6
4
2
0
0 5 10 15 20 25

Figure 1- Dispersion relation, ω (rad/s) vs. k (rad/m) at 35 cm

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9.00

8.00

7.00

6.00

5.00

4.00

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00

Figure 2- Dispersion relation, ω (rad/sec) vs. k (rad/m) at 72 cm

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 The cutoff frequency was found to be 3.3 rad/s when the strings were at 72 cm and

4.2 rad/s when the strings were at 35 cm. We can see this on the graph as the point that is

on the y-axis. At this point the wavenumber is zero, indicating that there is no wave

propagating along the slinky. These values are very different, meaning the cutoff

frequency is somehow dependent upon the length of the string.

Theoretically, we can look to the article to predict what should have happened. Using

g
the equation they found that ωc = [1] where g is gravitational acceleration and L is
L

the length of the strings, we get cutoff frequencies of 3.66 rad/s and 5.29 rad/s for the 72

cm and 35 cm lengths respectively. These values, while not the exact values we found,

are close to what we measured with a 20% and 10% difference respectively. The cutoff

frequencies are similar, but in the case of other frequencies the theoretical didn’t match

up as well with the measured values.

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12

10

0
0 5 10 15 20 25

Figure 3- Dispersion relation, ω (rad/sec) vs. k (rad/m) at 35 cm

(diamonds) and theoretical dispersion relation (squares)

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 Figures 3 and 4 show both the measured and the theoretical values for ω. These

ω
values were found using the equation from the article ω 2 = ωc2 + k 2 v02 [1] where v0 =
k

[1]. Notice that the values are all slightly higher than what we measured.

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9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00
0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00

Figure 3- Dispersion relation, ω (rad/sec) vs. k (rad/m) at 72 cm

(diamonds) and theoretical dispersion relation (squares)

IV. Conclusion

In conclusion, the results we found agree with our expectations, but are not what we

find using the theoretical predictions found in the journal article. There are many reasons

for this disagreement of values. The first of course is human error in the fact that we

don’t have perfect reflexes. We got rid of most of that error by averaging 4 values to find

the period, but there was still a 3-5% difference between our measured values. I believe

that if we had more timers the measured period would have been more accurate. There is

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also the fact that while we could get a pretty constant speed, it is really easy to speed up

or slow down while driving the slinky by hand, and that very easily could have caused

problems. These would bring error into our data, but not enough to account for the huge

differences between values. The other source of error is most likely systematic. If we

look at the values we can see that the theoretical values are all greater than the measured

values. This error could have been brought in by our methods of measuring the values.

One example would be that we began counting our oscillations at zero instead of one. I

believe that by taking all of these things into consideration the 10-20% error we find

between the measured and theoretical values of ω is reasonable.

In this experiment we were able to find a dispersion relation of the wave on a slinky

suspended from above. We found that this relation is hyberbolic. We were also able to

find the cutoff frequency at two different lengths of the strings, and found that the cutoff

frequency decreases as the string length increases. Lastly, we were able to compare our

measured values with theoretical values, and found that while they didn’t match up, the

theoretical predictions, and our measured results, are fairly consistent.

References

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[1] G. Vandegrift, T. Baker, J. DiGrazio, A. Dohne, A. Flori, R. Loomis, C. Steel, and
D. Velat, Am. J. Phys., 57, 949-951 (1989)