Waves: finding the tension of a cord

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The discussion revolves around calculating the tension in a telephone cord based on its length, mass, and the speed of a transverse pulse. The cord is 3.95 m long with a mass of 0.180 kg, and the pulse completes four trips in 0.790 seconds. The correct calculations yield a tension of approximately 18.23 N, but the initial answer submitted was incorrect due to a misunderstanding of the distance traveled by the pulse. Clarification on whether to consider the total distance for four trips as 4d or 8d was highlighted as a key point of confusion. The conversation emphasizes the importance of accurately interpreting the problem to arrive at the correct solution.
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1. A telephone cord is 3.95 m long and has a mass of 0.180 kg. A transverse pulse is produced by plucking one end of the taut cord. The pulse makes four trips down and back along the cord in 0.790 s. What is the tension in the cord?

d=3.95m, m=0.18kg, 4t=0.79s2.
v=(T/u)^0.5 --- v2=T/u --- T=v2*u

v=d/t

u=m/d

3.
4t = 0.79s
t = 0.79s/4 = 0.1975s

v = d/t = 3.95m/0.1975s = 20.0m/s

u = m/d = 0.18kg/3.95m = 0.0455696kg/m

T = v2*u = (20.0m/s)2*0.04557kg/m = 400m2/s2*0.04557kg/m = 18.2278481kg*m/s2
T = 18.2278N

this is from an electronic assignment and when I submitted this answer it said my answer "differs from the correct answer by 10% to 100%."
also, when I first attempted this problem I accidentally divided v2 by u instead of multiplying (which gave me 8777.778) and the response I got for that was that my answer differed from the correct answer by "orders of magnitude," which to me sounds like that answer was off by some multiple of 10.
 
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Hi nowtrams, welcome to PF.
Four trips down and back means 4d or 8d?
 
that's a good question, that hadn't occurred to me. I'll give that a try
 
That was all my problem was, thanks!
 
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