Embedded Files
THE IB SAYS
THE IB SAYS
Essential idea: All waves can be described by the same sets of mathematical ideas. Detailed knowledge of one area leads to the possibility of prediction in another.
Understandings: Superposition
Applications and skills: Sketching and interpreting the superposition of pulses and waves
Guidance: Students will be expected to calculate the resultant of two waves or pulses both graphically and algebraically
My vodcast
My vodcast
Superposition
Superposition
Travelling waves consist of propagating displacements through a medium (for mechanical waves) or through a field (e.g. electromagnetic waves). The displacement of any point in the medium, or the magnitude of the EM waves, depends on the position of the waves at that moment. If there are multiple waves present, then the displacement of any point is the vector sum of the contributions from the individual waves. The main points can be summarised as:
Waves pass through each other.
The displacements at a particular position add (vector addition).
WAVE PULSE EXAMPLES: CLICK HERE
1D WAVE EXAMPLES:
Good page on superposition and source of above animations: Ian Cooper, School of Physics, University of Sydney
Resources from textbooks
Resources from textbooks
Oxford Physics: pages 139 - 140, including a worked examples on page 140
Hamper HL (2014): page 176
Relevant questions from Dot Point Physics (4 Oscillations and Waves)
Relevant questions from Dot Point Physics (4 Oscillations and Waves)
Page 214
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse