3/1/2017 EnergyTransportandtheAmplitudeofaWave

EnergyTransportandtheAmplitudeofaWave
TheAnatomyofaWave
FrequencyandPeriodofaWave
EnergyTransportandtheAmplitudeofaWave
TheSpeedofaWave
TheWaveEquation

Asmentionedearlier,awaveisanenergytransportphenomenonthattransportsenergyalonga
mediumwithouttransportingmatter.Apulseorawaveisintroducedintoaslinkywhenapersonholds
thefirstcoilandgivesitabackandforthmotion.Thiscreatesadisturbancewithinthemediumthis
disturbancesubsequentlytravelsfromcoiltocoil,transportingenergyasitmoves.Theenergyis
impartedtothemediumbythepersonashe/shedoesworkuponthefirstcoiltogiveitkineticenergy.
Thisenergyistransferredfromcoiltocoiluntilitarrivesattheendoftheslinky.Ifyouwereholdingthe
oppositeendoftheslinky,thenyouwouldfeeltheenergyasitreachesyourend.Infact,ahighenergy
pulsewouldlikelydosomerathernoticeableworkuponyourhanduponreachingtheendofthe
mediumthelastcoilofthemediumwoulddisplaceyourhandinthesamedirectionofmotionofthe
coil.Forthesamereasons,ahighenergyoceanwavecandoconsiderabledamagetotherocksand
piersalongtheshorelinewhenitcrashesuponit.

HowistheEnergyTransportedRelatedtotheAmplitude?
Theamountofenergycarriedbyawaveisrelatedtotheamplitudeofthewave.Ahighenergywaveis
characterizedbyahighamplitudealowenergywaveischaracterizedbyalowamplitude.Asdiscussed
earlierinLesson2,theamplitudeofawavereferstothemaximumamountofdisplacementofaparticle
onthemediumfromitsrestposition.Thelogicunderlyingtheenergyamplituderelationshipisas
follows:Ifaslinkyisstretchedoutinahorizontaldirectionandatransversepulseisintroducedintothe
slinky,thefirstcoilisgivenaninitialamountofdisplacement.Thedisplacementisduetotheforce
appliedbythepersonuponthecoiltodisplaceitagivenamountfromrest.Themoreenergythatthe
personputsintothepulse,themoreworkthathe/shewilldouponthefirstcoil.Themoreworkthatis
doneuponthefirstcoil,themoredisplacementthatisgiventoit.Themoredisplacementthatisgiven
tothefirstcoil,themoreamplitudethatitwillhave.Sointheend,theamplitudeofatransversepulse
isrelatedtotheenergywhichthatpulsetransportsthroughthemedium.Puttingalotofenergyintoa
transversepulsewillnoteffectthewavelength,thefrequencyorthespeedofthepulse.Theenergy
impartedtoapulsewillonlyaffecttheamplitudeofthatpulse.

Considertwoidenticalslinkiesintowhichapulseisintroduced.Ifthesameamountofenergyis
introducedintoeachslinky,theneachpulsewillhavethesameamplitude.Butwhatiftheslinkiesare
different?Whatifoneismadeofzincandtheotherismadeofcopper?Willtheamplitudesnowbethe
sameordifferent?Ifapulseisintroducedintotwodifferentslinkiesbyimpartingthesameamountof
energy,thentheamplitudesofthepulseswillnotnecessarilybethesame.Inasituationsuchasthis,
theactualamplitudeassumedbythepulseisdependentupontwotypesoffactors:aninertialfactor
andanelasticfactor.Twodifferentmaterialshavedifferentmassdensities.Theimpartingofenergyto
thefirstcoilofaslinkyisdonebytheapplicationofaforcetothiscoil.Moremassiveslinkieshavea
greaterinertiaandthustendtoresisttheforcethisincreasedresistancebythegreatermasstendsto
causeareductionintheamplitudeofthepulse.Differentmaterialsalsohavedifferingdegrees
ofspringiness orelasticity.Amoreelasticmediumwilltendtoofferlessresistancetotheforceand1/2
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson2/EnergyTransportandtheAmplitudeofaWave
allowagreateramplitudepulsetotravelthroughitbeinglessrigid(andthereforemoreelastic),the
3/1/2017 EnergyTransportandtheAmplitudeofaWave

sameforcecausesagreateramplitude.

EnergyAmplitudeMathematicalRelationship
Theenergytransportedbyawaveisdirectlyproportionaltothesquareoftheamplitudeofthewave.
Thisenergyamplituderelationshipissometimesexpressedinthefollowingmanner.

Thismeansthatadoublingoftheamplitudeofawaveisindicativeofaquadrupling
oftheenergytransportedbythewave.Atriplingoftheamplitudeofawaveis
indicativeofaninefoldincreaseintheamountofenergytransportedbythewave.
Andaquadruplingoftheamplitudeofawaveisindicativeofa16foldincreasein
theamountofenergytransportedbythewave.Thetableattherightfurther
expressesthisenergyamplituderelationship.Observethatwhenevertheamplitude
increasedbyagivenfactor,theenergyvalueisincreasedbythesamefactor
squared.Forexample,changingtheamplitudefrom1unitto2unitsrepresentsa2
foldincreaseintheamplitudeandisaccompaniedbya4fold(22)increaseinthe
energythus2unitsofenergybecomes4timesbigger8units.Asanother
example,changingtheamplitudefrom1unitto4unitsrepresentsa4foldincreaseintheamplitude
andisaccompaniedbya16fold(42)increaseintheenergythus2unitsofenergybecomes16times
bigger32units.

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