@ Characteristics of standing waves

Summarising what we have seen in the last section, in a finite (fixed length and
bounded) medium:

the oscillating medium (or field) can store energy through the production of
standing waves;
each point on the standing wave axis has an associated constant amplitude;
there is no transport of energy;
standing waves are created by the interference of symmetrical (usually sinusoidal)
travelling waves moving in opposite directions;
travelling wave movement in opposite directions is achieved using end reflections
(fixed or free boundaries);
standing waves contain fixed equidistant locations of zero displacement (nodes) and
of maximum displacement (anti-nodes) and are in-phase between, but opposite-phase
across nodes (coherence);
the physical properties of the medium (or field) determine the wave speed;
the length of the medium (or field conditions) and boundary types determine the
wavelengths of standing waves that fit on the medium;
wavelengths of standing waves are the wavelength of the travelling waves that
produced them
the node spacing is one-half of the wavelength;
the frequency associated with the wavelength of a standing wave is called a natural
frequency and satisfies c=fλ
where wavelength is λ
wave speed is c
and frequency is f
;
energy is added most effectively by an external driver oscillating at one of the
natural frequencies of the finite (fixed length, bounded) medium (resonance).
In this section we will look in more detail at the characteristics of standing
waves and how they apply in practice.

We have been vague about two concepts associated with standing waves: adding energy
at resonance conditions and wavelength fit. Consider the addition of energy: We
have seen in our study of oscillations that they display a constant exchange – back
and forth – of kinetic and potential energy. This is a result of the work that is
done during the oscillatory motion by linear internal restoring forces. The nature
of linear restoring forces gives rise to sinusoidal motions (SHM) that have a
frequency (or period).

It is only natural to imagine that to increase the energy in an oscillating system,

it is best done with a periodic force and in phase with the internal restoring
force. Anyone who has pushed a friend or child on a swing will have learned that
the timing of each push is critical to gaining and maintaining height. Applying a
constant external force would necessarily upset the unique characteristics of a
linear restoring force. Applying shorter impulse forces at random times would only
add energy to the system at those special times when the external force exactly
matches the correct phase of the oscillator. Resonance is achieved when the driver
force frequency matches a natural system frequency. Other driver frequencies
generally result in chaotic motion.

Wavelength fit arises from the boundary conditions of the finite medium. We
understand that standing waves could exist in an infinitely large medium (or field)
by having identical symmetric waves interfere with each other, but what we find in
nature and everyday technology are vibrating systems with definite, limited
dimensions: boundary conditions make a medium finite.
A mathematical model of the problem of a finite oscillating medium must predict
motions of all the particles over time and that includes the end particles. Whether
the ends are free or fixed the solution must meet the boundary conditions at all
times. We will not be using advanced mathematics in this course but we will apply
what we know about standing waves and boundary conditions to semi-quantitatively
find out what the solutions must be.

@Standing waves on stretched strings

Many musical instruments make use of stretched strings. Neither the string section
of an orchestra nor the guitar players use household string in their instruments.
By 'stretched strings' we mean metal wires, or wires with other wires wrapped
around them, or nylon, or metal cores with nylon wrapping. The strings are fixed at
both ends (boundary conditions) and tension is applied using rotating 'tuning
pegs'.

If we define one complete oscillation as one complete cycle and therefore 2π

radians, the constant k
in our equation above turns out as the square of the angular frequency, ω
. So we can re-write our equation as:

a=−ω2x

Remember from circular motion, ω=2πf

with units of radians per second, rad⋅s−1
.

Combining this equation with our graph in Figure 1, we can see that if the gradient
changes, the frequency of oscillation changes. Making the gradient steeper means
that the system is 'stiffer', with a greater force on it for the same displacement.

If we change the length of the line, then the amplitude of the oscillation has
changed. It is the same system, but it has more energy at the start of the
oscillation.

By analysing this one dimensional motion, we can observe that a graph of

displacement against time of the moving object would give a sinusoidal graph, as
shown in Figure 2.

An animated graph of the displacement of an object (the red dot) undergoing simple
harmonic motion. , image
Figure 2. An animated graph of the displacement of an object (the red dot)
undergoing simple harmonic motion. Source: Adapted from https://askeyphysics.org
The x
-axis of this graph is actually ωt
, the product of angular frequency and time. This means that when t=T,ωt=2π
.

It is clear that there is a sinusoidal relationship, so

x∝sin(ωt)

The maximum value that sin

of anything can have is 1, so to give the correct maximum displacement, we must
multiply this by the amplitude, x0
(or A in Figure 2). This gives our first SHM equation:

x=x0sinωt

This is effectively a displacement–time graph and to find the velocity of the

object from a displacement–time graph, we must find the gradient, as we found out
in section 2.1.2.

The gradient of a sin

graph is a cos
graph, so our velocity equation becomes:

v=ωx0cosωt

Differentiating this again would give the acceleration because the gradient of a
cos
graph is a −sin
graph:

a=−ω2x0sinωt

We can also write this as:

a=−ω2x

So our simple harmonic equations are now

displacement, xvelocity, vacceleration, a=x0sinωt=ωx0cosωt=−ω2x0sinωt(1)(2)(3)

Rearranging and squaring equation 1 gives:

(xx0)2=sin2ωt (4)

You may know already that sin2θ+cos2θ=1

and therefore cos2ωt=1−sin2ωt
. Thus:

cos ωt=±1−sin2ωt‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾√

Note that there is a plus or minus sign, because either would give the same answer.

Combining this with equation 2 above, gives:

vωx0=±1−sin2ωt‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾√

Substituting in from equation 4 above gives:

vωx0=±1−(xx0)2‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾√

Rearranging this gives:

v=±ω(x20−x2)‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾√

Example 1
An object oscillates with a frequency of 60.0Hz
and amplitude 25.0mm
. Calculate the velocity of the object when its displacement is 8.00mm
. Give your answer in m⋅s−1
.