Sum of two waves & wave equation

AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around the conditions under which the sum of two sinusoidal waves satisfies the wave equation. The sum wave is expressed as D(x,t) = A1sin(k1x - ω1t) + A2sin(k2x - ω2t). The user attempts to derive the wave equation but struggles with the resulting equations and seeks clarification on potential trigonometric identities that could simplify the problem. A key insight is that the velocities of the waves, expressed as ω/k, must be equal for the sum wave to maintain the same velocity. The user suspects a mistake in their calculations regarding the relationship between the wave parameters.
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This thing is driving me mad, I thought I figured it out already, but it seems I was wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

Homework Statement



"Under what conditions does the sum of two sinusoidal waves also satisfy the wave equation?"
The sum wave is

D(x,t) = A_{1}sin(k_{1} x-\omega_{1} t)+A_{2}sin(k_{2} x-\omega_{2} t)


Homework Equations



The (1D) wave equation

\frac{\partial^{2}D}{\partial x^{2}}=\frac{1}{c²} \frac {\partial^{2}D}{\partial t^{2}}

The Attempt at a Solution



Not much, but derivating both sides:

\frac{\partial^{2}}{\partial x^{2}}(A_{1}sin(k_{1} x-\omega_{1} t)+A_{2}sin(k_{2} x-\omega_{2} t))
=-A_{1}k_{1}^{2} sin(k_{1} x-\omega_{1} t)-A_{2}k_{2}^{2}sin(k_{2} x-\omega_{2} t)

\frac{1}{c^{2}} \frac {\partial^{2}}{\partial t^{2}}( A_{1}sin(k_{1} x-\omega_{1} t)+A_{2}sin(k_{2} x-\omega_{2} t))
=-A_{1}\frac{\omega_{1}^{2}}{c^{2}} sin(k_{1} x-\omega_{1} t)-A_{2}\frac{\omega_{2}^{2}}{c^{2}}sin(k_{2} x-\omega_{2} t)

And rearranging gives:

A_{1}(k_{1}-\frac{\omega_{1}^{2}}{c^{2}}) sin(k_{1} x-\omega_{1} t)=A_{2}(\frac{\omega_{2}^{2}}{c^{2}}-k_{2}^{2})sin(k_{2} x-\omega_{2} t)

But to be honest I've got little else I'm able to do after this. I don't think I've ever had to solve something like that. Is there some sort of an obvious trigonometric identity or something I'm missing here?

The answer should be that the velocities of the waves, ie \frac{\omega}{k} are the same (which seems to lead to the velocity of the sum wave being that same velocity).
 
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EDIT: Hmm. I think I might've found a way to solve this.

The only problem is that I got

\omega_{1} k_{1} = \omega_{2} k_{2}

instead of

\omega_{1} k_{2} = \omega_{2} k_{1}

But I might've made a mistake somewhere.
 
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