PHYS 1C Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Sound, Farad, Dependent And Independent Variables
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The time it takes between successive crests is called the period, t. If we were sitting on the middle crest, then the period would be how much time it took for the next crest to arrive. The shape of the pulse at t=0 can be set by y=f(x). For a traveling pulse: y(x, t) = f(x vt), depending on the direction (- to the right, + left) To understand waves we must deal with functions of two variables, position and time. A graph that shows the wave"s displacement as a function of position at a single instant of tie is called a snapshot graph. For a wave on a string, this is literally a picture of the wave at this instant. A graph that shows the wave"s displacement as a function of time at a single position in space is called a history graph. It tell the history of that particular point in the medium.
