What is meant by dispersion in a wave?

  • Thread starter Thread starter asdf1
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Dispersion Wave
AI Thread Summary
Dispersion in a wave refers to the phenomenon where a wave signal becomes distorted over time because its various components travel at different speeds. This can occur due to differences in wavelength among the wave components or due to variations in amplitude. The result is that the shape of the wave changes as it propagates. Understanding dispersion is crucial in fields like optics and telecommunications, where signal clarity is essential. Overall, dispersion highlights the complexity of wave behavior in various media.
asdf1
Messages
734
Reaction score
0
what is meant by dispersion in a wave?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Effectively, it means how a wave signal becomes warped over time due to that different components of the wave travel with different velocities.

The two typical forms of dispersion is dispersion due to typical wave-length differences among wave components, and dispersion due to typical amplitude difference among wave components.
 
thanks! :)
 

Thread 'Rolling without slipping on a curved surface'

Kindly see the attached pdf. My attempt to solve it, is in it. I'm wondering if my solution is right. My idea is this: At any point of time, the ball may be assumed to be at an incline which is at an angle of θ(kindly see both the pics in the pdf file). The value of θ will continuously change and so will the value of friction. I'm not able to figure out, why my solution is wrong, if it is wrong .
View full post »

Thread 'Struggling to understand the concept of this question (ice cube in water optics question)'

TL;DR Summary: I came across this question from a Sri Lankan A-level textbook. Question - An ice cube with a length of 10 cm is immersed in water at 0 °C. An observer observes the ice cube from the water, and it seems to be 7.75 cm long. If the refractive index of water is 4/3, find the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. I could not understand how the apparent height of the ice cube in the water depends on the height of the ice cube immersed in the water. Does anyone have an...
View full post »
Thread 'A bead-mass oscillatory system problem'

Thread 'A bead-mass oscillatory system problem'

I can't figure out how to find the velocity of the particle at 37 degrees. Basically the bead moves with velocity towards right let's call it v1. The particle moves with some velocity v2. In frame of the bead, the particle is performing circular motion. So v of particle wrt bead would be perpendicular to the string. But how would I find the velocity of particle in ground frame? I tried using vectors to figure it out and the angle is coming out to be extremely long. One equation is by work...
View full post »

Similar threads

Why does a traveling wave pulse get distorted?
Replies
17
Views
2K
Group Velocity of Non-Dispersive Wave Packet
Replies
3
Views
2K
How to calculate this dispersion relation
Replies
5
Views
1K
I Dispersion Relation in Different Media
Replies
3
Views
1K
Critical frequency of Faraday Waves?
Replies
6
Views
1K
Index of refraction and wavelength
Replies
2
Views
2K
Differences between dispersion and scattering?
Replies
2
Views
6K
I Understanding the dispersion of waves
Replies
5
Views
10K
I Dispersion: Why are Sine-like Functions Fundamental?
Replies
6
Views
1K
A Understand Electronic Dispersion: Definition & Examples
Replies
1
Views
2K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top