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Partial Differential Equation (PDE) : Front Front
Partial Differential Equation (PDE) : Front Front
x
x x+x T(x+x,t)
T(x,t)
From Newton's 2nd law: net force = mass acceleration
2u
Along the vertical direction, T(x+x,t)sin -T(x,t)sin =x 2 (1)
t
where ,defined as the mass of string per unit length, is a constant.
On the other hand, T(x+x,t)cos =T(x,t)cos =T - (2) is a constant
since we assume there is only vertical motion with no horizontal accel.
T T
Therefore, from equ(2) T(x+x,t)= ,T(x,t)=
cos cos
sin sin 2u
from equ (1): T T T tan tan x 2 (3)
cos cos t
tan is nothing but the local slope of the string at x+x
u u
tan = and tan =
x x x x x
1 u u 2u
Substitute into equ(3)
x x
x x x
x T t 2
2u 2u 2 u
2
As we take the limit x 0, 2 c
x T t 2
t 2
2u 2
u
This is the famious one-dimensional wave equation: 2 c 2
x t 2
In order to model the motion of the string, we need not only the wave equation
but also the boundary and initial conditions.
Since the equation is second order in both time and space, we will need two
boundary plus two initial cnditions.
Boundary condition example:
string is fixed at both ends u( x 0, t ) 0, u( x L, t ) 0