PHYS 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Point Particle, Small-Angle Approximation, Wave Equation
4 May 2015
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Document Summary
Phys 211-lecture 24- harmonic waves and the wave equation. Transverse waves are created when the particles of the wave medium move perpendicular to the direction the wave propagates. There is the linear propagation of the wave through the medium with a wave velocity but the particles of the wave are not moving in the same direction as the wave. Waves that propagate the same pattern, or in other words- the same behavior of troughs and crests, are considered harmonic waves. X is the distance between the point particle on the string and end of the string. K is the wave number k=2 . To not confuse the period of oscillation of a wave (t) with the tension acting on the string (also t), we will refer to the period as p. The tension in the string is constant and the vertical displacement of a mass particle on the string is much, much smaller than the wavelength.
