Principle of Superposition of Waves

Two wave pulses identical in shape but inverted with respect to each other are produced at the two ends of a stretched string. At an instant when the pulses reach the middle, the string becomes completely straight. What happens to the energy of the two pulses?

Answer briefly.

State and explain the principle of superposition of waves.

As you have learnt in the text, the principle of linear superposition of wave displacement is basic to understanding intensity distributions in diffraction and interference patterns. What is the justification of this principle?

For the harmonic travelling wave y = 2 cos 2π (10t – 0.0080x + 3.5) where x and y are in cm and t is second. What is the phase difference between the oscillatory motion at two points separated by a distance of 0.5 m

Light waves each of amplitude "a" and frequency "ω", emanating from two coherent light sources superpose at a point. If the displacements due to these waves are given by y₁ = a cos ωt and y₂ = a cos(ωt + ϕ) where ϕ is the phase difference between the two, obtain the expression for the resultant intensity at the point.

For the harmonic travelling wave y = 2 cos 2π (10t – 0.0080x + 3.5) where x and y are in cm and t is second. What is the phase difference between the oscillatory motion at two points separated by a distance of 4 m.

A tuning fork of frequency 480 Hz is used to vibrate a sonometer wire having natural frequency 240 Hz. The wire will vibrate with a frequency of

A heavy ball is suspended from the ceiling of a motor car through a light string. A transverse pulse travels at a speed of 60 cm s ⁻¹ on the string when the car is at rest and 62 cm s⁻¹ when the car accelerates on a horizontal road. Find the acceleration of the car. Take g = 10 m s⁻²