Two Velocities in a Traveling Wave

[Solis]

Homework Statement

http://img258.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mphw0xj.png

The answer I tried is selected.
Edit: Nevermind, I figured out that v_x = 0. The string doesn't move in the x direction while the wave does. (v_p is the velocity of the wave)

 

[berkeman]

Glad you figured it out. I moved this from Advanced Physics to Intro Physics, BTW.

 

[m2003]

I can confirm that your reasoning is correct. The velocity of the wave, also known as the phase velocity (v_p), is the speed at which the wave travels through the medium. In this case, the medium is the string. However, the string itself does not move in the x direction, so its velocity (v_x) is equal to 0. This is because the wave is simply a disturbance traveling through the string, causing the particles of the string to oscillate without actually moving the string itself. Therefore, there are indeed two velocities involved in this traveling wave - the phase velocity and the string velocity - and they have different values due to the nature of the wave and the medium it is traveling through.