Destructive Interference of a Sound Wave

[Ike]

A sound wave with intensity 25 mW/m^2 interferes destructively with a sound wave with intensity 28 mW/m^2. What is the intensity of the superposition of the two?

I've read through this section in my textbook three times now and I still have no clue as to how to go about figuring this out. Can you help me?

 

[z-component]

What do you know about destructive interference? What happens between the two waves?

 

[quicknote]

Sure, I'd be happy to help. Destructive interference of sound waves occurs when two waves with opposite phases meet and cancel each other out. This results in a decrease in the overall intensity of the wave. In this case, we have a sound wave with an intensity of 25 mW/m^2 and a sound wave with an intensity of 28 mW/m^2.

To determine the intensity of the superposition of the two waves, we can use the principle of superposition, which states that the total wave at any point is equal to the sum of the individual waves at that point. In other words, we can add the two intensities together to find the total intensity of the superposition.

So, the intensity of the superposition would be 25 mW/m^2 + 28 mW/m^2 = 53 mW/m^2. This means that the overall intensity of the sound wave after destructive interference is 53 mW/m^2, which is less than the individual intensities of the two waves.

I hope this helps clarify the concept of destructive interference of sound waves. Let me know if you have any further questions.