Interference of Waves

3-3-99 Sections 11.11 - 11.12 Interference Interference is what happens when two or more waves come together. Depending on how the peaks and troughs of the waves are matched up, the waves might add together or they can partia y or even comp ete y cance each other. !e" discuss interference as it app ies to sound waves, #ut it app ies to other waves as we . Linear superposition $he princip e of inear superposition - when two or more waves come together, the resu t is the sum of the individua waves. $he princip e of inear superposition app ies to any num#er of waves, #ut to simp ify matters %ust consider what happens when two waves come together. &or e'amp e, this cou d #e sound reaching you simu taneous y from two different sources, or two pu ses trave ing towards each other a ong a string. !hen the waves come together, what happens( $he resu t is that the waves are superimposed) they add together, with the amp itude at any point #eing the addition of the amp itudes of the individua waves at that point. * though the waves interfere with each other when they meet, they continue trave ing as if they had never encountered each other. !hen the waves move away from the point where they came together, in other words, their form and motion is the same as it was #efore they came together. Constructive interference +onstructive interference occurs whenever waves come together so that they are in phase with each other. $his means that their osci ations at a given point are in the same direction, the resu ting amp itude at that point #eing much arger than the amp itude of an individua wave. &or two waves of e,ua amp itude interfering constructive y, the resu ting amp itude is twice as arge as the amp itude of an individua wave. &or 1-- waves of the same amp itude interfering constructive y, the resu ting amp itude is 1-- times arger than the amp itude of an individua wave. +onstructive interference, then, can produce a significant increase in amp itude.

$he fo owing diagram shows two pu ses coming together, interfering constructive y, and then continuing to trave as if they"d never encountered each other.

*nother way to think of constructive interference is in terms of peaks and troughs. when waves are interfering constructive y, a the peaks ine up with the peaks and the troughs ine up with the troughs. Destructive interference Destructive interference occurs when waves come together in such a way that they comp ete y cance each other out. !hen two waves interfere destructive y, they must have the same amp itude in opposite directions. !hen there are more than two waves interfering the situation is a itt e more comp icated. the net resu t, though, is that they a com#ine in some way to produce /ero amp itude. In genera , whenever a num#er of waves come together the interference wi not #e comp ete y constructive or comp ete y destructive, #ut somewhere in #etween. It usua y re,uires %ust the right conditions to get interference that is comp ete y constructive or comp ete y destructive. $he fo owing diagram shows two pu ses interfering destructive y. *gain, they move away from the point where they com#ine as if they never met each other.

Reflection of waves $his app ies to #oth pu ses and periodic waves, a though it"s easier to see for pu ses. +onsider what happens when a pu se reaches the end of its rope, so to speak. $he wave wi #e ref ected #ack a ong the rope. If the end is fi'ed, the pu se wi #e ref ected upside down 0a so known as a 11-2 phase shift3. If the end is free, the pu se comes #ack the same way it went out 0so no phase change3. If the pu se is trave ing a ong one rope tied to another rope, of different density, some of the energy is transmitted into the second rope and some comes #ack. &or a pu se going from a ight rope to a heavy rope, the ref ection occurs as if the end is fi'ed. &rom heavy to ight, the ref ection is as if the end is free. Standing waves 4oving on towards musica instruments, consider a wave trave ing a ong a string that is fi'ed at one end. !hen the wave reaches the end, it wi #e ref ected #ack, and #ecause the end was fi'ed the ref ection wi #e reversed from the origina wave 0a so known as a 11-2 phase change3. $he ref ected wave wi interfere with the part of the wave sti moving towards the fi'ed end. $ypica y, the interference wi #e neither comp ete y constructive nor comp ete y destructive, and nothing much usefu occurs. In specia cases, however, when the wave ength is matched to the ength of the string, the resu t can #e very usefu indeed. +onsider one of these specia cases, when the ength of the string is e,ua to ha f the wave ength of the wave.

time to produce ha f a wave ength is t 5 $ 6 2 5 1 6 2f in this time the wave trave s at a speed v a distance 7, so t 5 7 6 v com#ining these gives 7 6 v 5 1 6 2f, so f 5 v 6 27 $his fre,uency is known as the first harmonic, or the fundamenta fre,uency, of the string. $he second harmonic wi #e twice this fre,uency, the third three times the fre,uency, etc. $he different harmonics are those that wi occur, with various amp itudes, in stringed instruments. String instruments and transverse standing waves In genera , the specia cases 0the fre,uencies at which standing waves occur3 are given #y)

$he first three harmonics are shown in the fo owing diagram)

!hen you p uck a guitar string, for e'amp e, waves at a sorts of fre,uencies wi #ounce #ack and forth a ong the string. 8owever, the waves that are 9:$ at the harmonic fre,uencies wi have ref ections that do 9:$ constructive y interfere, so you won"t hear those fre,uencies. :n the other hand, waves at the harmonic fre,uencies wi constructive y interfere, and the musica tone generated #y p ucking the string wi #e a com#ination of the different harmonics. ;'amp e - a particu ar string has a ength of <3.- cm, a mass of 3- g, and has a tension of 1=.- 9. !hat is the fundamenta fre,uency of this string( !hat is the fre,uency of the fifth harmonic( $he first step is to ca cu ate the speed of the wave 0& is the tension3)

$he fundamenta fre,uency is then found from the e,uation)

So the fundamenta fre,uency is >2.=> 6 02 ' -.<33 5 33.9 8/. $he second harmonic is dou# e that fre,uency, and so on, so the fifth harmonic is at a fre,uency of ? ' 33.9 5 1<9.? 8/.