A longitudinal wave travels on a slinky or any long spring. The wave is represented by the equation z(z, t) = 1.2 cm cos(1800 rad/s t + 60 m−1 z). What are the wavenumber and direction of propagation of the wave?
Question
A longitudinal wave travels on a slinky or any long spring. The wave is represented by the equation z(z, t) = 1.2 cm cos(1800 rad/s t + 60 m−1 z). What are the wavenumber and direction of propagation of the wave?
Solution
The wave equation given is z(z, t) = 1.2 cm cos(1800 rad/s t + 60 m−1 z).
In a wave equation of the form z(z, t) = A cos(ωt + kz), the wavenumber is represented by 'k'.
From the given equation, we can see that the wavenumber k = 60 m−1.
The direction of propagation of the wave is determined by the sign in front of the kz term in the wave equation. If the sign is positive, the wave is moving in the negative z-direction. If the sign is negative, the wave is moving in the positive z-direction.
In the given equation, the sign in front of the kz term is positive, so the wave is moving in the negative z-direction.
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