Wave propagation Definition and 87 Threads

Hello, there is a subject of wave propagation and collapse that has plagued me for some time, and although i must have heard about it, my memories are probably skewed ( i studied EE and had high frequency, physics of materials and nuclear/quantum physics sometime in 1970s :) as subjects). In...

In the same sense that sound waves propagate through air, water waves through water, light through spacetime, what medium does the de broglie wave propagate through? Also, how could one detect such a disturbance in this medium without measuring the particle itself? (i.e. you can see the wake of...

I recall that when in school, teacher said that during a wave propagation, be it the longitudinal wave (like sound wave) or transverse wave (like water surface wave), particle in every position only oscillate along its equilibrium position, and will not experience translational motion. i.e., if...

my question concerns electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation. consider a two layer medium where the first layer has constant conductivity $\sigma_0$ and the second layer constant conductivity $\sigma_1$. If a EM wave propagates from the first medium into the second one boundary conditions have...

I am trying to figure out how the TEM wave looks like and how it propagate outward. Attached is a pdf of a drawing with only the solenoid and show the winding that the current is flowing in CCW and a reference. Also I draw a loop with one resistor and show the induced current and the polarity of...

What is the difference of a magnetic and nonmagnetic medium? And how does it affect wave propagation on these mediums?

Hi. I'm not even sure if I'm posting this in the best forum! I'm having a lot of trouble grasping parts of this paper.. Eur Biophys J. 2009 Jun;38(5):637-47. Epub 2009 Mar 4. A nonlinear model of ionic wave propagation along microtubules. Specifically, they use a phase space plot that...

Hello, if we assume that the wave propagation-speed in a medium is v, does this imply that there is an "upper-bound" for the maximum frequency that a perturbation can produce? Or are these totally unrelated quantities? Thanks!

My doubt arises because I couldn't understand how a Poincaire Sphere gives us info about direction of propagation of wave. Now as we know Poincaire sphere is a neat way of showing the polarization state of an TEM wave. Now ,let me give an example to illustrate my doubt : - Let us take a...

Hello everyone. I have tried to do as much research as my layman mind will allow on how an electromagnetic wave propagates in relation to how a sound wave for example does. I understand that an acoustic wave is longitudinal and works on compression and that a light wave is a transverse wave...

We were taught in the vibrations and waves lecture course that the solution to the wave equation for traveling waves is of the form ψ(z,t) = Acos(wt-kz). In the Electromagnestism course we learned that EM waves are traveling waves and have the solution E = E0cos(kz-wt). I know that changing...

Homework Statement You have a rubber cord of relaxed length x. It be- haves according to Hooke's law with a "spring con- stant" equal to k. You then stretch the cord so it has a new length equal to 2x. a) Show that a wave will propagate along the cord with speed...

I'm working on trying to understand wave propagation. In particular, I'm trying to understand directional wave propagation in elastic and inelastic materials. Is there an ideal theoretical medium in which it is possible to propagate waves in an entirely directional i.e. straight-line manner...

Homework Statement Consider y_1=Asin(5x)exp(-2t) y_2=Aexp(4ix)exp(-2it) y_3=Asin(2x-5t)exp(-2t) (i)which one represents a wave that propagates at constant speed with no change in its profile (ii)Confirm it satifies the wave equation and obtain the wave velocity (iii)Comment...

From reviewing previous posts on the subject, I understand that the E field and B field propagate in-phase through space. From this information, does it mean that at a specific space and time the E and B fields will be zero? If we had an instrument to determine the E and B field at specific...

In the electromagnetism theory, the phase factor or constant (usually BETA) in wave propagation for lossy medium has the unit rad/m. I understood that it must be interpreted as the amount of phase shift that occurs as the wave travels one meter. However, differently of the attenuation...

Suppose you know the phase of a wave is given by \phi_1 = \vec k \cdot \vec r - \omega t. How can you determine in which direction this wave is propagating? I guess, more specifically, how does a wave described by this phase differ from a wave described by the phase \phi_2 = \vec...

I am generally an "artsy" person, though I am interested in science, too. I am curious about EM waves, particularly how they get started and what determines their amplitude and direction. I've read that an oscillating charge can generate a magnetic field, though I'm a bit confused about what...

Excuse me if this question is obvious. Do mechanical waves propagate through loudspeaker diaphragms (whether they be elastic or rigid) in the same way that acoustic waves propagate through waveguides albeit a different medium? As far as I understand, reflections occur at the boundaries of the...

i have a doubt in wave propagation in solids wave propagation i have studied in school is in continuous medium but real mediums are discreate how will we understnd wave propagation in them -for wave to transfer from one particle to next takes infinitesimial time but since in continuous medium...

Hi, Can somebody point me in the correct direction of learning about Schrodinger Equations in relation to Wave propagation. I came across Schrodinger Equations in some texts but couldn't quite understand some background. Most of the time the author used it from nowhere. Really appreciate if...

This is probably a silly question -- but I have been thinking about it, and I can't convince myself. So, I'd be greatly happy if you could solve my apparent "dilemma". In electromagnetics, for sinusoidal voltages, we use the phasor notation and express a positive traveling wave ( +Z...

Dear topic mates! I'm an electric engineer and physicist student from Hungary. I looking for description of the spherical shock wave propagation in liquids. I need a formula which give the relationship between the propagation velocity and time. Additionally, I wonder the pressure at the...

Homework Statement A wave takes 4s to travel form one end of the string to the other. Then the length is increased by 10%. Now how long does a wave take to travel the length of the spring? Homework Equations v = sqrt ( FL/m) F = -kx The Attempt at a Solution If the original...

Hello everyone, a wave propagates at a speed (group of phase speed), less than the speed of light, no matter what type of wave we are dealing with (electromagnetic, mechanical,...). Why is infinite velocity characteristic of a diffusion process? What does that mean? For something to...

Can anyone validate that phase always decreases in the direction of propagation of wave? Also if i have a sonometre wire in which i develop a transverse wave using a tuning fork and then i immerse the weight into water i.e change the tension, will the frequency also change? I mean frequency...

I have a couple of questions about single slit diffraction. It's not a homework exercise - just a conceptual problem. Here it is (with some introductory comments)... I understand that the diffraction pattern from a single slit is the modulus squared of the Fourier transform of the aperture...

Homework Statement If a wave is started up a long rope hanging from the ceiling, it will not climb at constant velocity. Why? Will the wave be traveling faster or slower at the top than the bottom? (Hint: Is the tension of the rope a factor?) Homework Equations v=square root...

Hi All, Em waves propagate in varying ground conditons, in the ground the velocity of em waves is reduced since it is dependant on the relative dielectric permittivity, the realtive magnetic permiability & electrical conductivity. This will more than likely make no sense at all? My...

Hi! Can some one give me a link where i can find details about finding the velocity of propagation of a mechanical wave in a solid? (i think this wave must be a transverse one)

Homework Statement I was looking through my notes when I saw the following expression of a plane wave represented as a phasor A_{0}e^{i(\vec{k}\cdot\vec{r}-\omega t)} Now I can certainly understand a plane wave propagating along a given coordinate axis say, x or z, and the phasor...

Please consider a plane wave that propagates through a dielectric with friendly properties (isotropic, non-conducting...) with speed c/n. What would happen if we remove the dielectric and the wave continues to propagate in empty space?

Hi, all, My question is if I have two plane E&M wave traveling in the x-z plane, and they are polarized along the y direction, and I know that there is an angle theta between their propagation vectors, how do I set up the equations to get the intereference pattern in the z direction? I...

Lets say you got a glass cube and a small light source embedded at the exact center of the glass cube. Now if you want to paint a circle on each face of the cube so that the light is prevented from leaving the cube, what is the minimum radius of the circle that you need to paint? Let say...

Problem: The equation of a certain traveling transverse wave is y(x,t)=4.00sin(81.0(pi)t - 1.590(pi)x) where t is in seconds and x and y are in cenimeters. Find the speed of propagation, the period and the wavelength for these waves (express you answer in units of m/s) So, I know A...

Hi All, Here is my question regarding the solution of this little movie => http://www.somasimple.com/flash_anims/ap_003.swf A thin elastic tube (thickness = 1) is connected with a thicker one (40 times thicker than the previous section). The tubes are poured with water. A wave is is traveling...

probably easy question a sinusoidal wave is propagating along a string in the +x direction. 10 waves pass by a point every 10 microseconds. the wave exhibits the following characteristics: a) at t=0 and x=0 , the wave propagation speed is 30 m/s, and the Oscillation speed is 2.5 mm/s in...