Sound and Wave Erxercise
Sound and Wave Erxercise
Sound and Wave Erxercise
Exercise 1.1
You nd a spring in the laboratory. When you hang 100 grams at the end of the spring
it stretches 10 cm. You pull the 100 gram mass 6 cm from its equilibrium position and
let it go at t = 0. Find an equation for the position of the mass as a function of time t.
Lets rst nd the period of the oscillations, then we can obtain an equation for
the motion. The period T = 2
l/g, we have
1
T
1
= 2
l
1
g
T
2
= 2
l
2
g
for each of the pendula. Dividing these two equations we have
T
1
T
2
=
l
1
l
2
(1)
Solving for l
2
we have
l
2
= l
1
(
T
2
T
1
)
2
(2)
Using l
1
= 1 meter, and T
2
/T
1
= 12/11 yields
l
2
= 1(12/11)
2
1.19 meters (3)
So the longer pendulum is 1.19 meters long.
Exercise 1.3
A spring is hanging freely from the ceiling. You attach an object to the end of the
spring and let the object go. It falls down a distance 49 cm and comes back up to
where it started. It continues to oscillate in simple harmonic motion going up and
down a total distance of 49 cm from top to bottom. What is the period of the simple
harmonic motion?
You might think that there is not enough information to solve the problem, but
lets try and see if we need to know more about the system. Let the mass of the object
be m and the spring constant be labeled k. The period of simple harmonic motion
for an ideal spring is given by
T = 2
m
k
(4)
To solve for the period T, we need to know the ratio of m/k. What does the 49 cm
tell us? This is the total distance from the top to the bottom of the simple harmonic
motion. Let d = 49 cm. This means that the equilibrium position lies d/2 from the
2
top. This is the distance (d/2 cm) that the mass m would stretch the spring due to
its weight mg. In terms of the spring constant we have
mg = k(
d
2
)
m
k
=
d
2g
Substituting into the equation for the period we have
T = 2
d
2g
10
0.99 sec (5)
since d = 49 cm, and we have used g = 980 cm/s
2
. Looks like we had enough infor-
mation after all.
Exercise 1.4
Consider the system shown in the gure, which consists of a rod of length L and mass
M that can spin around its center. There is a little hole in the center of the rod,
which allows the rod to rotate, without friction, about its center. There is a spring,
with spring constant k, attached to one end. The rod is pulled to one side and set
free to oscillate. Is the motion one of simple harmonic motion? What is the period
of oscillation. Express your answer in terms of M, L, and k.
To determine if the motion is simple harmonic, we need to see if the restoring force
from the equilibrium position is proportional to the displacement from equilibrium.
Our system is a rod that can rotate about its center. The appropriate equation for
rotation about a xed axis is
I =
net
(6)
where I is the rotational inertial about the axis of rotation, = d/dt is the angular
acceleration about the axis, and
net
is the net torque about the axis. The rotational
inertial for a thin rod of mass M, length L, that rotates about its center is ML
2
/12.
The torque about an axis equals the force applied times the moment arm. In our
case, if the angular displacements are small, the force is perpendicular to the rod.
The torque is therefore given by = rF = (L/2)F, where F is the force that the
spring exerts on the end of the rod.
3
The force the spring exerts on the rod equals k times the extension of the spring.
If = 0 is the equilibrium position, then the spring exerts a force equal to k(L/2),
where is the angle the rod is rotated from its equilibrium position. Putting the
pieces together, the equation of motion for the rod is
I =
net
(
ML
2
12
)
d
2
dt
2
= rF
(
ML
2
12
)
d
2
dt
2
=
L
2
k(L
2
)
The minus sign is needed since the force is a restoring force. If is positive, the
force (and the torque) is in the negative direction. If is negative, the force is in the
positive direction. The spring always pushes or pulls the rod back to its equilibrium
position. Simplifying the equation above gives
d
2
dt
2
=
3k
M
(7)
since the Ls cancel. The solution to this equation is (t) = A sin(t), where =
M
3k
(8)
Exercise 1.5
Consider a spring that is standing on end in the vertical position. You place 100
grams on the spring and it compresses a distance of 9.8 cm.
a) If an additional 200 grams are placed on top of the 100 gram mass, how much will
the spring compress?
This is an easy question if we assume that the spring obeys Hookes Law. If
100 grams compresses the spring 9.8 cm, then 200 grams will compress the spring
2(9.8) = 19.6 cm.
b) What is the spring constant?
4
The spring constant is dened in the equation F
x
= kx. Consider the 100 gram
mass. It exerts a force of F = mg = (0.1 kg)(9.8 m/s
2
) = 0.98 N on the spring. The
compression is 0.098 m, so the spring constant is
k =
F
x
=
0.98
0.098
= 10 N/m (9)
You would get the same result if you considered the 200 gram mass and its compres-
sion.
Exercise 1.6
A massless spring attached to a wall lies on a frictionless table. It has a block of mass
2 kg attached to one end. Initially the block is at rest. Another block, also of mass 2
kg is sliding along on the tabletop with a speed of 8 m/s. At time t = 0, the moving
block collides with the block on the spring. The two stick together and oscillate back
and forth. If the spring constant is 16 N/m, nd an expression x(t) which describes
the motion of the two blocks that are stuck together.
Since there are no external forces during the collision, linear momentum is con-
served. Let v
f
be the nal speed after the collision. then
final total momentum = initial total momentum
(m
1
+ m
2
)v
f
= m
1
v
0
(2 + 2)v
f
= 2(8)
v
f
= 4 m/s
This speed of 4 m/s is the initial speed for the oscillatory motion. Since the spring
obeys Hookes law, the motion is one of simple harmonic (i.e. sinusoidal) with =
k/m =
16/4 = 2 s
1
. The general expression for simple harmonic motion is:
x(t) = x
0
cos(t) +
v
0
sin(t) (10)
For our example, x
0
= 0 since the blocks are at x = 0 at t = 0. Thus only the sin
term is present:
x(t) = 2sin(2t) meters (11)
where t is in seconds.
5
6
Exercise 1.7
An object of mass m is oscillating back and forth in simple harmonic motion. The
maximum distance from equilibrium is A, and the period of oscillation is T. At t = 0
the object is at the origin, x = 0, and moving in the x direction. Find the following
in terms of m, T, and A:
a) The equation of motion of the object.
The general form for the equation of motion is x(t) = x
0
cos(t) + (v
0
/)sint.
In our case, x
0
= 0. Since the maximum amplitude is A, we have |v
0
/| = A. Since
the object is initially moving in the - direction, v
0
< 0 so v
0
/ = A. Since
= (2)/T, the equation of motion is therefore:
x(t) = Asin(
2
T
t) (12)
b) The maximum speed of the object.
To nd the velocity of the object for any time t, we can just dierentiate x(t).
Thus,
v(t) =
dx
dt
v(t) =
A2
T
cos(
2
T
t)
using the chain rule. Since the cos function varies between 1 and +1, the maximum
speed is (2A)/T.
c) The maximum acceleration of the object.
To nd the acceleration of the object for any time t, we can just dierentiate v(t):
a(t) =
dv
dt
a(t) = (
A2
T
)
2
sin(
2
T
t)
using the chain rule again. Since the sin function varies between 1 and +1, the
maximum acceleration is ((2A)/T)
2
.
7
d) The total energy of the object.
The total energy of an object moving in simple harmonic motion equals its kinetic
energy as it passes through the equilibrium position. This is true since at x = 0 the
object has no potential energy (i.e. it is at a minimum) and all of its energy is in the
form of kinetic energy. Thus, we have
E
tot
=
m
2
v
2
max
=
m
2
(
2A
T
)
2
E
tot
=
2
2
mA
2
T
2
Note: all our answers for this problem apply to any type of simple harmonic motion.
The answers dont only apply to a mass on a spring.
Exercise 1.8
Consider the U-shaped tube containing a uid shown in the gure. The cross sec-
tional area of the tube is A, and the total length of the tube is l. The uid is pushed
up on one side and released. The uid sloshes back and forth in periodic motion
(assuming there are no frictional forces). Is the motion simple harmonic? If so, what
is the period of the motion?
To determine what kind of motion will occur, we displace the uid a distance y
from equilibrium and determine what the net force is. Suppose the surface on the
right side of the tube is raised a distance y. Then there is a total height dierence
of 2y above the surface of the left side of the tube. The net force on the uid will
be the weight of the uid contained in a height of 2y, which we call m. Since
the cross-sectional area of the tube is A, the weight unbalance or net force equals
F
net
= (m)g = (2y)Ag, where is the density of the uid. Since the force acts in
the opposite direction to y we have:
F
net
= 2Agy (13)
The net force equals the total mass of the uid times its acceleration:
m
d
2
y
dt
2
= 2Agy (14)
8
9
where m is the total mass of the uid. Since the total length of the uid is l, m = Al.
Subsituting this expression for m into the equation above yields:
Al
d
2
y
dt
2
= 2Agy
d
2
y
dt
2
=
2g
l
y
Thus, we see that the restoring force (i.e. or acceleration) is proportional to the
displacement from equilibrium (y). The solution to the dierential equation above is
a perfect sinusoidal y(t) = Asin(t) where =
l
2g
(15)
Exercise 2.1
Eric has a semi-innite string and is holding it at one end. He moves the end of the
string up and down in a sinusoidal motion in time at a rate of 50 times per second.
The distance from equilibrium that he moves the end is 0.05 meters. The speed of
the wave on the string is 200; m/s. Find an equation for y(x, t) that describes the
displacement of the string from equilibrium in terms of x (the distance from the end)
and t time.
Since he is moving the end in a perfect sinusoidal motion, the shape of the wave
will be a sine wave. The wavelength of the traveling sine wave equals = v/f =
200/50 = 4 meters. So an equation for the wave can be
y(x, t) = Asin(
2
x 2ft)
= 0.05sin(
2
x 100t) meters
This is a sine wave that travels in the +x direction. If the wave were to travel in the
x direction, the function would be y(x, t) = 0.05sin(
2
x + 100t) meters. We could
also add a phase in the sin argument.
Note: if he were to move the end up and down in a motion other than sinusoidal,
10
then the shape would not be a perfect sine wave.
Exercise 2.2
Eric takes the same string with the same tension as in Exercise 2.1, but cuts it so its
length is 1 meters. He xes both ends, and forms a standing wave with an amplitude
of 0.05 meters. The standing wave produced is the fundamental. Find an equation
for y(x, t) that describes the displacement of the string from equilibrium in terms of
x and t.
Since the tension is the same as before, the speed of the wave on the string is
200 m/s. The standing wave is the fundamental, which means that there is one
anti-mode. Therefore, the wavelength is equal to twice the length of the string,
= 2L = 2 meters. The frequency of the oscillations is f = v/ = 200/2 = 100 Hz.
For a standing wave, the space and time functions separate. Since the frequency is
100 Hz, the time function is sin(2100t) = sin(200t). Since the wavelength is 2
meters, the space function is sin(2x/) = sin(x). Therefore, the function y(x, t)
becomes:
y(x, t) = 0.05 sin(x) sin(200t) (16)
for
0 x 1 meter (17)
The equation is only valid for values of x between 0 and 1 meter, which is the length
of the string. We could add a phase in the time part: sin(200t + ) which would
depend on when we choose t = 0. However, we cannot add a phase to the position
part, since x = 0 and x = L = 1 meter are nodes. y(0, t) = y(L, t) = 0 for all times.
Also, note the dierence between the traveling wave solution of Exercise 2.1 and the
standing wave of this exercise.
Exercise 2.3
Gisela is standing on the side of the autobahn (freeway). Hans has just passed her
traveling 44 m/s (100 mph) and is traveling north. Wolfram is traveling towards her
from the south at a speed of 60 m/s (136 mph). He is also traveling towards the
north. Wolfram honks his horn, which has a frequency of 400 Hz. Take the speed of
sound in air to be 340 m/s. Find:
11
a) The frequency of the horn that Gisela hears.
Gisela is at rest in the medium, and Wolfram is traveling towards her. Thus, she
will hear the note with a frequency higher than 400 Hz. We can use the Doppler
formula with the observer at rest with respect to the medium and the source moving
in the medium:
f = f
0
(
1 v
o
/V
1 v
s
/V
)
= 400
1
1 (60/340)
f 486 Hz
Since the observer is at rest in the medium, v
o
= 0. The sign in the denominator is
negative since Gisela hears a higher frequency (i.e. the source is moving towards her).
If Wolfram were moving away from her, there would be a + sign in the denominator.
b) The frequency of the horn that Hans hears.
Once again we can use the Doppler formula:
f = f
0
(
1 v
o
/V
1 v
s
/V
)
= 400
1 (44/340)
1 (60/340)
f 423 Hz
Hans the observer is moving in the medium. Since Hans is moving away from the
source, his motion will lower the frequency resulting in a negative sign in the numer-
ator. Since the source (Wolfram) is moving towards the observer, the sources motion
will tend to increase the frequency Hence, the minus sign in the denominator. If they
were to both travel at the same speed, then Hans would hear the note unshifted in
frequency. Remember that when using the Doppler formula for sound, the speeds are
with respect to the medium.
Exercise 2.4
Flipper is driving her car along the road. To determine her speed, she drives her car
12
towards a big wall and honks the horn. The horn has a frequency of 400 Hz. She
hears the sound that is reected o the wall, and notices that the two notes, the horn
and reected wave, result in a beat frequency of 4 beats/sec. How fast is she traveling?
At the wall, the note will be heard with a higher frequency than 400 Hz. Since
she is traveling towards the wall, she will hear a still higher note. Since the beat
frequency is 4 Hz, the note that she hears after the sound has bounced o the wall is
(400 + 4) = 404 Hz.
It is probably easiest to break the problem up into two parts. First nd the
frequency that a person standing next to the wall would hear the sound as. Then,
take this frequency as the source that Flipper is traveling towards. Since the wall is
stationary, v
o
= 0. Let ippers speed be v. This gives
f
at wall
= 400(
1
1 v/340
) (18)
In this case, Flippers horn is the source of the sound. The wall is the observer and is
stationary. There is a minus sign in the denominator since she is moving towards the
wall (i.e. the frequency at the wall is greater than 400 Hz.) The frequency f
at wall
is
the frequency in air reected back from the wall. Flipper is driving towards the wall,
so she will hear the higher frequency of 404. Thus, we have
404 = f
at wall
(1 + v/340)
404 = 400(
1
1 v/340
)(1 + v/340)
404 = 400
1 + v/340
1 v/340
We can solve the last equation for v, which gives v 1.69 m/s. This is the method
that dolphins use to determine if they are closing in on their prey.
Exercise 2.5
John has two identical guitar strings of the same length. One has a tension F
1
. When
he plucks this string it produces a sound of 440 Hz for its fundamental note. The
second string has a tension that is 1 % higher than the rst, F
2
= 1.01F
1
. If both
string are plucked at the same time, what is the beat frequency?
13
14
Lets rst nd the frequency that the second string will produce when plucked.
Since the string is vibrating in its fundamental mode, f = v/(2L). In terms of the
tension F, v =
F
2
/(2L)
f
1
=
F
1
/(2L)
Dividing the two equations yields:
f
2
f
1
=
F
2
F
1
f
2
= f
1
F
2
F
1
f
2
= 440
1.01
f + 2 442 Hz
So John will hear a beat frequency of f
beat
= 442 440 = 2 beats/sec.
Exercise 2.6
Hector is attending a rock concert and is sitting 2 meters from the speaker. The
music is loud, and he measures the intensity level to be 120 db. He knows that this is
bad for his ears, so he wants to move to where the intensity level is only 90 db. How
far away from the speaker should he be?
Lets rst change intensity level to intensity in unit of W/m
2
. 120 db is a sound
intensity of 1 W/m
2
, and 90 db is a sound intensity of 10
3
W/m
2
. Sound intensity,
I, decreases as the inverse square law:
I =
P
4r
2
(19)
where P is the power output of the point source (i.e. speaker). This can be re-written
as
15
Ir
2
=
P
4
(20)
Since the power is the same no matter where Hector sits, we must have
I
2
r
2
2
= I
1
r
2
1
(21)
where position 1 is at 2 meters, and position 2 is far away. Substuting in the appro-
priate quantities, we have
10
3
r
2
2
= (1)2
2
r
2
= 2
1000
r
2
63 meters
So Hector should move 63 meters away from the speaker. The actual power P that
the speaker is putting out is P = I(4r
2
) = 1(42
2
) 50 Watts.
noindent Exercise 2.7
Lorraine has two organ pipes. Both pipes are open at both ends. One pipe is 60 cm
long, and the other is 61 cm long. If both are played in their fundamental mode at
the same time, what is the beat frequency? Take the speed of sound in air to be 340
m/s.
The beat frequency is the dierence in frequency of the two pipes. Lets nd
the fundamental frequency of each pipe. Since the pipes are open at both ends, the
fundamental frequency will have the length equal to 1/2 the wavelength. Thus, the
fundamental frequency f is related to the length L by
f =
v
2L
(22)
where v is the speed of sound. The rst pipe has a frequency of f
1
= 340/(2(0.6))
283.3 Hz. The frequency of the second pipe is f
2
= 340/(2(0.61)) 278.7 Hz. So
the beat frequency is f
beat
= f
1
f
2
283.3 278.7 4.6 Hz. This means that the
sound will have around 4.6 loud-soft oscillations per second.
16
Exercise 2.8
Eva notices that the A string on her violin is a little at. She measures the fre-
quency to be 436 Hz. The A note should be 440 Hz. The tension in the string is
F
1
. To obtain the proper note, she needs to increase the tension to F
2
. What is the
proper tension F
2
in terms of F
1
?
We need to determine how the fundamental frequency depends on tension F. If
L is the length of the string, then f = v/(2L). The speed v depends on the tension
according to v =
(23)
Since the length of the string L and the mass per length are not changed, we see
that the fundamental frequency is proportional to the square-root of F. Taking the
ratio of f
2
/f
1
, L and cancel giving:
f
2
f
1
=
F
2
F
1
(24)
Solving for F
2
, we have
F
2
= F
1
(
f
2
f
1
)
2
= F
1
(
440
436
)
2
F
2
1.02F
1
So Eva needs to increase the tension in the string by around 2%.
Exercise 2.9
My friend Soumya has given me an exotic wind instrument from the villages of Ben-
gal. I am not sure if it will behave as an open-open pipe, or an open-closed pipe. I
make overtone notes, and produce successive resonant frequencies of 510, 850, and
1190 Hz. Is the instrument an open-open pipe or an open-closed pipe? What is the
fundamental frequency?
If the instrument is an open-open pipe, the resonant frequencies are
17
f
n
=
nv
2L
(25)
where n = 1, 2, 3, , an integer. If the instrument is an open-closed pipe, the
resonant frequencies are
f
n
=
nv
4L
(26)
where n = 1, 3, 5, , an odd integer. In either case, the dierence of successive res-
onant frequencies is v/(2L). For our instrument, the dierence of successive resonant
frequencies is (850510) = 340 Hz, which means v/(2L) = 340 Hz. If the instrument
were open-open, then all overtones would be multiples of 340 Hz. Since 510, 850, and
1190 are not multiples of 340 the instrument does not behave like an open-open pipe.
It must be an open-closed pipe. Lets see if it checks out. The fundamental frequency
is f
1
= v/(4L) = (1/2)v/(2L) = (1/2)340 = 170 Hz. The frequency 510 is 3 times
f
1
, 850 is 5 times f
1
, and 1190 is 7 times f
1
. So the measured frequencies are suc-
cessive resonances for an open-closed pipe that has a fundamental frequency of 170 Hz.
Exercise 2.10
Two speakers are located 3 meters apart and are emitting sine wave tones coher-
ently. George is standing at the point A, which is 6 meters away from the line joining
the two speakers. At the point A the sound he hears from the speakers is very loud,
i.e. constructive interference, since he is equal distance from the speakers. He now
walks north as shown in the gure. At rst the sound becomes soft, then when
he reaches the point labeled B the sound from the speakers is loud, i.e. constructive
interference. If the distance from A to B is 1.5 meters, what is the frequency of the
sine wave tone? Take the speed of sound in air to be 340 m/s.
Since there is constructive interference when George is at point B, the distance
from B to one speaker 1 minus the distance from B to speaker 2 must equal
a mulitple of the wave length. This is the rst maximum that George hears, so
d
1
d
2
= , where d
1
is the distance to speaker 1 and d
2
is the distance to speaker
2. Using the distances in the gure, we have
= d
1
d
2
=
3
2
+ 6
2
6
= 0.708 meters
18
So the frequency of the sine wave tone is f = 340/0.708 480 Hz.
Exercise 2.11
Sallys roommate likes to listen to pure sine wave tones. She sets up two speakers
at each end of the room. The speakers are 10 meters apart and are each producing
the exact same wave coherently that is a single sine wave of 170 Hz. Sally likes to
study in the middle of the room, which is 5 meters from each speaker. However, the
constructive interference at this point results in a very loud sound and Sally cannot
study well. How far towards one of the speakers should she move so that the waves
from the speakers cancel, allowing her to study better? Take the speed of sound in
air to be 340 m/s.
To have the sound waves produce destructive interference, the distance from Sally
to one speaker minus her distance to the other speaker must be one-half a wavelength.
The wavelength of the note is = 340/170 = 2 meters. Suppose Sally moves a
distance x to the right as shown in the gure. Then the distance to speaker 1 is
d
1
= 5+x, and the distance to speaker 2 is d
2
= 5x. For destructive interference,
d
1
d
2
must equal /2:
2
= d
1
d
2
2
2
= (5 + x) (5 x)
1 = 2x
x =
1
2
meter
So if she moves 0.5 meters to the right, she will be 5.5 meters from the speaker on
the left, and 4.5 meters from the speaker on the right. The dierence in the distance
from the speakers is (5.5 4.5) or 1 meter. This dierence is one half a wavelength,
which results in the cancelation of the two waves. Now she can study her physics
better.
Exercise 2.12
Consider the set-up shown in the gure. There are two sources of sound waves that
are producing the exact same sound wave (i.e. coherent)that is a single sine func-
tion of frequency 340 Hz. The speakers are separated by a distance of 20 cm. The
19
20
point P
1
is located a distance r from the center of the speakers perpendicular to
the line joining them. The point P
2
is located the same distance r from the cen-
ter of the speakers along the line joining them. Harvey stands at the point P
1
, and
Ellen stands at the point P
2
. How does the amplitude of the sound that Ellen hears
compare to the amplitude that Harvey hears? Take the speed of sound to be 340 m/s.
As discussed in lecture (see the lecture notes), the net amplitude from two co-
herent identical sinusoidal sources equals Net Amplitude 2Acos(r/). In this
expression, r is the dierence in distance from the observer to the sources. We
also assume that the amplitude at the observer, A, is the same from each source. In
our case, Ellen (point P
2
) is closer to one speaker than the other. However, we will
assume that r >> 20 cm, so at Ellens location the amplitude is essentially the same
for each source of sound. Since f = 340 Hz, we have = 340/340 = 1 meter. So, the
net amplitude that Harvey experiences is
(Net Amplitude)
1
= 2Acos((0)/1)
= 2A
At Harveys location (P
1
) r = 0, since each speaker is the same distance away from
him. The net amplitude that Ellen experiences is
(Net Amplitude)
2
= 2Acos((0.2)/1)
= 2Acos(/5)
1.62A
At Ellens location (P
2
) one speaker is 20 cm closer than the other to her, so r = 0.2
meters. So we see that the amplitude at point P
2
is (1.62/2) = 0.81 or 81% the
amplitude at point P
1
.
We note that if the two sources were not coherent, the interference eects would
average to zero, and the average amplitude at point P
1
would be the same as that at
point P
2
.
21