16.10 Superposition and Interference

Imagine you are holding one end of a jump rope, and your friend holds the other. If your friend holds her end still, you can move your end up and down, creating a transverse wave. If your friend then begins to move her end up and down, generating a wave in the opposite direction, what resultant wave forms would you expect to see in the jump rope?

Define nodes and antinodes.

You hook up a stereo system. When you test the system, you notice that in one corner of the room, the sounds seem dull. In another area, the sounds seem excessively loud. Describe how the sound moving about the room could result in these effects.

Explain the principle of superposition with figures that show the changes in the wave amplitude.

A string is fixed on both sides. It is snapped from both ends at the same time by applying an equal force. What happens to the shape of the waves generated in the string? Also, will you observe an overlap of waves?

Two sine waves travel in the same direction in a medium. The amplitude of each wave is A, and the phase difference between the two is 180°. What is the resultant amplitude?

1. 2A
2. 3A
3. 0
4. 9A

A car has two horns, one emitting a frequency of 199 Hz and the other emitting a frequency of 203 Hz. What beat frequency do they produce?

Two tuning forks having frequencies of 460 and 464 Hz are struck simultaneously. What average frequency will you hear, and what will the beat frequency be?

A wave traveling on a Slinky® that is stretched to 4 m takes 2.4 s to travel the length of the Slinky and back again. (a) What is the speed of the wave? (b) Using the same Slinky stretched to the same length, a standing wave is created which consists of three antinodes and four nodes. At what frequency must the Slinky be oscillating?