Is Your House on a Node or an Antinode for Radio Waves?

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The discussion revolves around determining whether a house is located at a node or an antinode for radio waves based on a path difference of 1500 m from two sources at a frequency of 500 kHz. The calculated wavelength is 600 m, leading to confusion as the path difference does not yield a whole number multiple of the wavelength. Clarification is provided that nodes correspond to destructive interference and occur at integer multiples of the wavelength, while antinodes correspond to constructive interference at half-integer multiples. The initial misunderstanding about the definitions of nodes and antinodes is acknowledged and corrected. Ultimately, the conclusion is that the house is at a node, resulting in poor reception.
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Homework Statement


Radio waves (speed=c) from a two point source produce an interference pattern in space. Your house is located at a point where the path difference from the two radio sources is 1500 m. If the radio frequency is 500 kHz, show whether your house is on a node or an antinode. Answer =node, lousy reception


Homework Equations


C=λf


3.The attempt at a solution
I figured out the lamda by dividing C by f first and it came out to be 600m , but 1500m is not a COMPLETE divisible of 600m and results in N being = 2.5 which means that it should be an antinode however the answer says that its a node, am I doing something wrong? Please help. Thank you :)
 
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What is node, and what is antinode? What should be the path difference to get a node/antinode?

ehild
 
A node is when there is a constructive interference and an antinode is when there is a destructive interference. Path difference should be an integer. Like 1λ or 2λ for nodes , and for antinodes should be 1.5λ or 2.5λ. Am I right?
 
Oh sorry, I was wrong all the time. Node is destructive interference and anti node is constructive :P .. haha :P sorry
 
huzjm said:
Oh sorry, I was wrong all the time. Node is destructive interference and anti node is constructive :P .. haha :P sorry

That is right. :smile: 'In general, a node is a localised swelling (a "knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex)' /Wikipesia.

ehild
 
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