The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Speed of a transverse wave

Hi, I encountered a problem whilst doing problems involving transverse waves. If somebody could give me a pointer I would appreciate it. The question is:

"One end of a horizontal rope is attached to a prong of an electrically driven tuning fork that vibrates the rope transversely at 120Hz. The other end passes over a pulley and supports a 1.50kg mass. The linear mass density of the rope is 0.055kg/m. What is the speed of a transverse wave on rope?"

The answer in the book is 16.3m/s.

If I'm honest I'm struggling to even start. I figure that you have to balance the forces, where the downward force would be 9.81*(1.5+0.055L)N where L is the length of the rope and perhaps you can relate that to the power of the tuning fork and work it out from there? A pointer would be lovely. Thanks.
Original post by Aiden223
Hi, I encountered a problem whilst doing problems involving transverse waves. If somebody could give me a pointer I would appreciate it. The question is:

"One end of a horizontal rope is attached to a prong of an electrically driven tuning fork that vibrates the rope transversely at 120Hz. The other end passes over a pulley and supports a 1.50kg mass. The linear mass density of the rope is 0.055kg/m. What is the speed of a transverse wave on rope?"

The answer in the book is 16.3m/s.

If I'm honest I'm struggling to even start. I figure that you have to balance the forces, where the downward force would be 9.81*(1.5+0.055L)N where L is the length of the rope and perhaps you can relate that to the power of the tuning fork and work it out from there? A pointer would be lovely. Thanks.


There is a standard formula for the speed of a transverse wave on a string in terms of the tension in it (given by the weight of the mass on the end) and the mass per unit length of the string (given directly)
The frequency is irrelevant for this question.
Reply 2
Avatar for Aiden223
Aiden223
OP
7
Ooh ok thank you! My book wasn't specifically designed for my course so I think perhaps that's something that isn't in my syllabus.
Original post by Aiden223
Ooh ok thank you! My book wasn't specifically designed for my course so I think perhaps that's something that isn't in my syllabus.


Let us know if you can't find the formula.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you