A Fresh Look at Longitudinal Standing Waves on a Spring

Casey Rutherford

Citation: The Physics Teacher 51, 22 (2013); doi: 10.1119/1.4772032

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.4772032
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Published by the American Association of Physics Teachers

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 A Fresh Look at Longitudinal Standing
Waves on a Spring
Casey Rutherford, Shakopee High School, Shakopee, MN
T
ransverse standing waves produced on a string, as
shown in Fig. 1, are a common demonstration of
standing wave patterns that have nodes at both ends.
Longitudinal standing waves can be produced on a helical
spring that is mounted vertically and attached to a speaker, as
shown in Fig. 2, and used to produce both node-node (NN)
and node-antinode (NA) standing waves. The resonant fre-
quencies of the two standing wave patterns are related with
theory that is accessible to students in algebra-based intro-
ductory physics courses, and actual measurements show good
agreement with theoretical predictions.
A helical spring can serve as a visual and mathematical
analogy for open-open and open-closed pipes that have a
pressure antinode at closed ends and a pressure node at open
ends.1 The nodes on a spring standing wave are visible as a
single stationary coil, as shown in Fig. 3. The stationary na-
Fig. 1. Transverse standing waves on a string produced by a
speaker and a function generator.
Fig. 2. Apparatus for demonstrating lon- Fig. 3. A single node on the spring,
gitudinal standing waves in a spring. marked N.
Nodes are barely visible at this distance
and are labeled N.
22 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 51, January 2013
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ture of the nodes can be demonstrated by slipping a strip of
paper into the node, as seen in Fig. 4. The same paper when
pushed against an antinode will vibrate significantly.2
The derivation of the harmonics of a longitudinally vibrat-
ing spring is similar to the standard derivation for sound-
producing pipes found in introductory physics textbooks.3
The primary difference is that while the speed of sound waves
is constant for a constant temperature, longitudinal waves
produced in helical springs have a speed v given by4
(1)
where L is the vibrating length of the spring, k is the spring
constant, and ms is the mass of the spring. NN standing waves
in any medium form integer harmonics with the nth fre-
quency given by
(2)
Combining these two equations yields
(3)
such that the fundamental f1 is5
(4)
and subsequent harmonic frequencies fn given
by
fn = nf1. (5)
For NA standing waves only the odd har-
monics are produced with frequencies given by
Fig. 4. A slip of paper may be inserted to validate
a node.
DOI: 10.1119/1.4772032
 Fig. 6. Part of a node-antinode pattern produced with transverse waves on a string,
where the speaker acts as the antinode (A) and a node (N) is produced nearby.

Table I. Predictions and observed resonant frequencies for a

helical spring.
Node-Node (NN) Standing Node-Antinode (NA)
Waves Standing Waves
Fig. 5. The end node of a node-node stand- nth Predicted Observed Predicted Observed
ing wave is visible slightly above the bottom harmonic resonant resonant resonant resonant
of the spring. frequency frequency frequency frequency
(Hz) (Hz) (Hz) (Hz)
(6)
1 4.96 5.125a 2.48 not observableb

2 9.92 10.25
where the prime () will be used to indicate the equation is for
the node-antinode pattern. Combining this with Eq. (1) 3 14.9 15.25 7.44 7.5
yields 4 19.8 20.25
5 24.8 25.25 12.4 12.5
(7) 6 29.8 31.0

7 34.7 36.0 17.4 17.5
with a fundamental of
a. The Labquest function generator increases in steps of 0.125 Hz
(8) from 0-10 Hz, 0.25 Hz from 10-30 Hz, and by 0.5 Hz for the val-
ues tested thereafter.
and harmonics b. Harmonics are identified by the presence of nodes, and thus the
fundamental frequency for the NA pattern is difficult to observe
due to the lack of nodes.
(9)
or
was noticed in a previous analysis of the node-node standing
(10)
waves9 that was attributed to subjectivity in measurement.
Recall that in both Eqs. (9) and (10), n must be odd. Despite this, the accuracy of the predictions for the NA waves
While Eqs. (5) and (9) are usually covered in introduc- and the fact that the lowest nodes for the NN waves are actu-
tory physics courses for sound waves in open-open and ally produced slightly above the bottom of the spring (Fig. 5)
open-closed pipes, the relationship of the two patterns, as indicate the possibility that some other factor contributes to
shown in Eq. (10), is not. This could be because of the lack of these slight discrepancies. A preliminary experiment testing
examples where both patterns emerge in the same situation. the effect of changing the effective length of the spring in
It is interesting to note that both derivations reveal a lack of Eq. (2) to match the observed bottom node location did not
dependence on the length L of the spring for the frequency of yield results that match the actual resonant frequencies. Fur-
the harmonics. Simply adjusting the stretched length of the ther investigation into the nature of this effect is, however,
spring verifies this result.5 beyond the scope of this paper.
Data were collected using a spring with an experimentally It is also worth mentioning the same relationships in
determined6 spring constant of 1.14 N/m and mass 11.6 g, Eqs. (5), (9), and (10) can be found for transverse waves on a
driven by a Vernier Power Amplifier Accessory Speaker pow- string, though the effect is less pronounced due to the small
ered by a Vernier Power Amplifier.7 Table I shows values of amplitude of the antinodes. Figure 6 shows a node near the
the predicted and measured harmonic frequencies for both speaker, with the speaker itself acting as the antinode. Once
the NN and NA standing waves. the fundamental frequency of the standard NN pattern is
The predicted and measured frequencies of the NA waves produced, the fundamental
agree within the uncertainty of the equipment.8 For the NN
waves, however, they do not. A similar systematic pattern

The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 51, January 2013 23

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 of the NA pattern is known, and subsequent harmonics for
both patterns emerge that follow Eqs. (5) and (9).
Conclusions
Demonstrating longitudinal standing waves on a spring
visually enhances teaching of standing waves in addition to
revealing the relationship between the harmonics of the two
standing wave types. The relationship between open-open
pipes and open-closed pipes becomes more apparent, with
further benefit from the accessibility of student comparisons
between theory and measured values.
References
1. Standing waves in pipes can be confusing for students due to
terminology. Though an open end of a pipe is a pressure node,
it is an air-displacement antinode. Pressure is considered here
due to similarity to the spring system, as commonly analyzed
open-open pipes are considered a node-node system in terms
of pressure.
2. A video depiction of this process and more is available at goo.
gl/axso1.
3. For examples see D.C. Giancoli, Physics, 6th ed. (Pearson Pren-
tice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2005), pp. 331-334 or R.A.
Serway, College Physics, 7th ed. (Thomson Learning, Belmont,
CA, 2006), pp. 480-481.
Miss Universe
24 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 51, January 2013
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4. Elisha Huggins, “Speed of wave pulses in Hooke’s law media,”
Phys. Teach. 41, 142–146 (March 2008).
5. P. J. Ouseph and Thomas Poothackanal, “Longitudinal and
transverse waves in a spring,” Phys. Teach. 32, 285–286 (May
1994).
6. The spring was attached to a stationary force detector and
pulled toward a reversed motion detector. The slope of the re-
sulting position-versus-time graph yields the spring constant.
7. Available from Vernier Software & Technology, www.vernier.
com.
8. The overriding uncertainty is that the built-in function genera-
tor on a Vernier Labquest changes frequency in steps of 0.125
Hz from 0-10 Hz, steps of 0.25 Hz from 10-30 Hz, and steps of
0.5 Hz for the values tested thereafter.
9. Richard A.Young, “Longitudinal standing waves on a vertically
suspended slinky,” Am. J. Phys. 61, 353–360 (April 1993).
Casey Rutherford has been teaching physics and math for nine years
and also works with teachers to effectively integrate technology into their
classes. He has a BA in physics and mathematics from St. Olaf College
and an MEd in science education from the University of Minnesota.
He currently teaches general level physics as well as Introduction to
College Physics, an algebra-based physics course articulated through the
University of Minnesota such that students earn both high school and col-
lege credit.
Shakopee High School, Shakopee, MN; crutherf@shakopee.k12.
mn.us; www.learningandphysics.wordpress.com
(Photo: www.john-doe.co)