CHAPTER 15 – WAVES

Waves: Wave is a form of disturbance which travels through a material medium due to the repeated f
periodic motion of the particles of the medium about their mean positions without any actual
transportation of matter.

Characteristics of wave
The characteristics of waves are as follows:
(i) The particles of the medium traversed by a wave execute relatively small vibrations about their
mean positions but the particles are not permanently displaced in the direction of propagation of the
wave.
(ii) Each successive particle of the medium executes a motion quite similar to its predecessors
along/perpendicular to the line of travel of the wave.
(iii) During wave motion only transfer of energy takes place but not that of a portion of the medium.
Waves are mainly of three types: (a) mechanical or elastic waves, (b) electromagnetic waves and (c)
matter waves.

Types of Waves

1. Mechanical waves
2. Electromagnetic waves
3. Matter waves

Mechanical waves: -

1. The mechanical waves are governed by all the Newton’s laws of motion.
2. Medium is needed for propagation of the wave.

For Example: - Water Waves, Sound Waves

Electromagnetic waves:-

 Electromagnetic waves are related to electric and magnetic fields.

 An electromagnetic wave, does not need a medium to propagate, it carries no
mass,does carry energy.
 Accelerated charged particles are the source of EM waves

Examples: - Satellite system, mobile phones,radio, music player, x-rays and microwave.

Matter waves:-

 Waves related to matter. Matter consists of small particles.

 Matter waves are associated with moving electrons,protons,neutrons & other
fundamental particlesetc.

Transverse Waves

 The transverse waves are those in which direction of disturbance or displacement in

the medium is perpendicular to that of the propagation of wave.
 The direction in which a wave propagates is perpendicular to the direction of
disturbance.
 Progressive Wave
 A progressive wave is a term given to a wave that travels from a specific point A in
the medium to another point B.

Longitudinal Waves

 In longitudinal waves direction of disturbance or displacement in the medium is along

the propagation of the wave.

Necessary properties of the medium for wave propagation :

(i) Elasticity : So that particles can return to their mean position, after

having been disturbed.

(ii) Inertia : So that particles can store energy and overshoot their mean position.
Displacement relation in a progressive wave:

Let a simple harmonic wave start from ‘o’ and travel in the +ve x direction,

Initial Phase of the particle =0

Displacement of the particle at the origin y(0,t)=Asin𝜔𝑡

Time taken by the Distrubance to reach ‘P’=x/v

Displacement of the particle at P at any instant=Displacement of the particle at ‘o’ at (t- )

Y(x,t)=Asin(𝜔(t- )

Various forms of progressive wave function.

(i) y = A sin (ωt – kx)

Where y = displacement

A = amplitude ω = angular frequency

n = frequency k = propagation constant
T = time period λ = wave length
v = wave velocity t = instantaneous time
Phase Difference and Path Difference

The argument of the harmonic function,

y=Asin(kx−wt+ϕ0) is called phase of the wave, ϕ. Thus,

ϕ=kx−wt+ϕ0
 The phase ϕ changes both with distance x and time t.
The change in phase Δϕ with change in time Δt for fixed value of x is found by
partially differentiating. Eqn (i) w.r.t. t, as
Δϕ=wΔt= Δt

Similarly, the change in phase Δf with change in distance Δx for fixed value of time t
is given as

Δφ=kΔx= Δx
Δφ= Δx
Wave velocity or Phase Velocity

The distance covered by a wave in the direction of its propagation per unit time is called the
wave velocity. Let us try and find it for a wave traveling in the positive X direction. Suppose,
y = A sin (kx – ωt) represents our traveling wave. Let us say that this wave does not change
its form while traveling through any medium. In other words, it maintains its form.

On the waveform, it retains its displacement as it moves. For a fixed point on the waveform,
we must have a constant argument. Hence, we have

Therefore, differentiating, both side w.r.t., time t, we get

But dx/dt = wave velocity – v, therefore

This represents the wave velocity or the phase velocity of a traveling wave.

Speed of a Transverse Wave on Stretched String

The speed of transverse waves on a string depends on two main factors

 The linear mass density or mass per unit length, μ (say)

 The tension T of the string.

The linear mass density or μ

It is defined as the mass m of the string divided by its length l. Therefore, its dimension is
[ML-1]. The tension T has the dimension of force — namely, [M L T-2]. Our aim is to
combine μ and T in such a way as to generate v [dimension (L T-2)]. Therefore, if v depends
only on T and μ, the relation between them must be:

Here, C is a dimensionless constant. Hence, the speed of transverse waves on a stretched

string is given by:

Hence, the speed of a wave along a stretched ideal string depends only on the tension and the
linear mass density of the string. It is independent of the frequency of the wave.

Speed of a Longitudinal Wave Speed of Sound

In a longitudinal wave, the constituents of the medium oscillate back and forth in the
direction of propagation of the wave. We know that the sound waves travel in the form of
compression and rarefactions of the small volume element of the medium. Therefore, the
property that determines the extent to which the volume of an element of a medium change
when the pressure on it changes, is the bulk modulus B, given by:

Here, ∆V/V is the fractional change in volume produced by a change in pressure ∆P. The SI
unit for pressure is N m-2 or pascal (Pa). The dimension of density is [ML-3]. Hence, the
dimension of the ratio B/ρ is [L2 T-2]. Therefore, based on dimensional analysis, the most
appropriate expression for the speed of longitudinal waves in a medium is:

where C is a dimensionless constant and can be shown to be unity. Hence, the speed of
longitudinal waves in a medium is given by:

The speed of propagation of a longitudinal wave in a fluid, therefore, depends only

on the bulk modulus and the density of the medium. It can be shown that the speed of a
longitudinal wave in the bar is given by,
Newton’s formula

The relation between pressure P and volume V is:

PV = NkBT

Where N is the number of molecules in volume V, kB is the Boltzmann constant and T the
temperature of the gas (in Kelvin). Therefore, for an isothermal change, it follows from above
equation that:

Hence, substituting in the equation of the speed of longitudinal wave, we get

This is known as Newton’s formula for the speed of sound. Therefore at NTP ,

P = 1.01 × 105 N/m2 and ρ = 1.3 kg/m3 = 279 m/s

The experimental value of v in air is 332 m/s at NTP. This discrepancy was removed by
Laplace.

Laplace Correction for Newton’s Formula

He corrected Newton’s formula by assuming that, there is no heat exchange takes place as the
compression and rarefaction takes place very fast. Thus, the temperature does not remain
constant and the propagation of the sound wave in air is an adiabatic process. Also air is a
poor conductor of heat.

For an adiabatic process PV𝛾 = Constant

Differentiating both the sides we get-
Factors affecting velocity of sound in gases

(i) Effect of pressure

If the temperature of the gas remains constant, then by Boyle’s law PV = constant

i.e P . m / ρ = constant

P / ρ is a constant, when mass (m) of a gas is constant. If the pressure changes

from P to P ′ then the corresponding density also will change from ρ to ρ ′ such
that P ρ is a constant.

In Laplace’s formula root(γP / p) is also a constant. Therefore the velocity of

sound in a gas is independent of the change in pressure provided the temperature
remains constant.

(ii ) Effect of temperature

For a gas, PV = RT
P.m/p = RT
P. /p = RT/ m
where m is the mass of the gas, T is the absolute temperature and R is the gas
constant.

Therefore v =

It is clear that the velocity of sound in a gas is directly proportional to the square
root of its absolute temperature.

(iii)Effect of density

The velocity of sound in a gas is inversely proportional to the square root of the
density of the gas.
(iv) Effect of humidity

When the humidity of air increases, the amount of water vapour present in it also
increases and hence its density decreases, because the density of water vapour is
less than that of dry air. Since velocity of sound is inversely proportional to the
square root of density, the sound travels faster in moist air than in dry air. Due to
this reason it can be observed that on a rainy day sound travels faster.

(v ) Effect of wind

The velocity of sound in air is affected by wind. If the wind blows with the
velocity w along the direction of sound, then the velocity of sound increases to v
+ w. If the wind blows in the opposite direction to the direction of sound, then the
velocity of sound decreases to v - w. If the wind blows at an angle θ with the
direction of sound, the effective velocity of sound will be (v + w cos θ).

Note: In a medium, sound waves of different frequencies or wavelengths travel

with the same velocity. Hence there is no effect of frequency on the velocity of
sound.
Superposition principle of waves

Superposition principle
When two waves travel in a medium simultaneously in such a way that each wave
represents its separate motion, then the resultant displacement at any point at
any time is equal to the vector sum of the individual displacements of the waves.
If 𝐘𝟏,⃗ 𝐘𝟐,⃗ 𝐘𝟑,⃗are the displacements at a particular time at a particular
position, due to individual waves, then the resultant displacement is 𝑌1⃗ + 𝑌2⃗ + 𝒀𝟑⃗
Important applications of superposition principle: (a) Stationary waves,
(b) Beats.
Standing Waves or Stationary Waves
When two sets of progressive wave trains of same type (both longitudinal
or both transverse) having the same amplitude and same time period/frequency/
wavelength travelling with same speed along the same straight line in opposite
directions superimpose, a new set of waves are formed. These are called stationary
waves or standing waves.
Characteristics of standing waves :
(1) The disturbance confined to a particular region
(2) There is no forward motion of the disturbance beyond this particular
region.
(3) The total energy is twice the energy of each wave.
(4) Points of zero amplitude are known as nodes.
The distance between two consecutive nodes is .
(5) Points of maximum amplitude is known as antinodes. The distance
between two consecutive antinodes is also λ/2. The distance between a
node and adjoining antinode is λ/4.
Comparative Study of Stretched Strings, Open Organ Pipe and Closed
Organ Pipe
Vibration of a String

Beats
When two sound waves of slightly different frequencies, travelling in a
medium along the same direction, superimpose on each other, the intensity of the
resultant sound at a particular position rises and falls regularly with time. This
phenomenon is called beats.
(1) Beat period : The time interval between two successive beats (i.e. two
successive maxima of sound) is called beat period.
(2) Beat frequency : The number of beats produced per second is called
beat frequency.
(3) Persistence of hearing : The impression of sound heard by our ears
persist in our mind for 1/10th of a second.

So for the formation of distinct beats, frequencies of two sources of

sound should be nearly equal (difference of frequencies less than 10)