Classical Physics I（经典物理学我）.pdfVIP

Classical Physics I Classical Physics I PHY131 Lecture 27 Waves Lecture 27 1 Mechanical Waves Mechanical Waves A mechanical wave is a “disturbance” that travels through a medium: particles of the medium undergo displacements from and/or oscillations about their equilibrium positions as the “wave” passes by… – Mechanical waves are possible only because of the restoring forces acting on the particles that make up the medium… – Examples: • transverse pulse in a stretched rope • longitudinal pulse in a slinky • water waves are a combination of both… – Although the participants in the wave motion move around their equilibrium position, and thus stay “in the same place on average”, the wave travels on and transports energy and momentum from one place to the next! – In a uniform medium, the “disturbance” travels with a characteristic speed v, which is determined by the medium properties (density, mass/length, tension, elastic modulus, temperature, …) Lecture 27 2 Periodic Waves Periodic Waves a periodic wave is a disturbance (local pressure, transverse position, etc.) that re-occurs with a certain temporal periodicity T (= repetition time) and travels as a disturbance through the medium with a spatial periodicity called “wave length” λ (= repetition length): – at any given location on the path of the wave the local medium moves with period of motion Period T – The pattern of the disturbance repeats itself along the direction of its motion with a repetition length called wavelength: λ – clearly these relate to the propagation speed as: v = λ/T = λf