Why must traveling waves have the same amplitude to form a standing wave?Why is a particular wavelength favored by transmission through a thin film?Why is the phase of reflected wave during formation of standing waves 180 degrees?Molecular orbital theoryHow are standing waves a result of constructive and destructive interferences?Constructive and destructive interferenceThe relationship between the standing wave energy and its harmonicConceptual doubt regarding Standing Waves, in particular constructing a Standing Wave after t=T/2 secondsWhy are standing waves produced in an open organ pipe if the medium is same after all?Standing waves in antenna: why is the current wave symmetric with respect to the centre?On Superposition In Diffraction

Why would a jet engine that runs at temps excess of 2000°C burn when it crashes?

Touchscreen-controlled dentist office snowman collector game

Potentiometer like component

Is King K. Rool's down throw to up-special a true combo?

What is the dot in “1.2.4."

Provisioning profile doesn't include the application-identifier and keychain-access-groups entitlements

When were linguistics departments first established

Rejected in 4th interview round citing insufficient years of experience

Is a lawful good "antagonist" effective?

"However" used in a conditional clause?

Do I need to leave some extra space available on the disk which my database log files reside, for log backup operations to successfully occur?

Am I not good enough for you?

Is "history" a male-biased word ("his+story")?

US to Europe trip with Canada layover- is 52 minutes enough?

How to make readers know that my work has used a hidden constraint?

When two POV characters meet

What does it mean when multiple 々 marks follow a 、?

Co-worker team leader wants to inject the crap software product of his friends into our development. What should I say to our common boss?

Coworker uses her breast-pump everywhere in the office

Is it true that real estate prices mainly go up?

How can I discourage/prevent PCs from using door choke-points?

Decoding assembly instructions in a Game Boy disassembler

Is it illegal in Germany to take sick leave if you caused your own illness with food?

Counter-example to the existence of left Bousfield localization of combinatorial model category



Why must traveling waves have the same amplitude to form a standing wave?


Why is a particular wavelength favored by transmission through a thin film?Why is the phase of reflected wave during formation of standing waves 180 degrees?Molecular orbital theoryHow are standing waves a result of constructive and destructive interferences?Constructive and destructive interferenceThe relationship between the standing wave energy and its harmonicConceptual doubt regarding Standing Waves, in particular constructing a Standing Wave after t=T/2 secondsWhy are standing waves produced in an open organ pipe if the medium is same after all?Standing waves in antenna: why is the current wave symmetric with respect to the centre?On Superposition In Diffraction













1












$begingroup$


I understand the reason for which the wavelengths of the incident and reflected waves must be equal: otherwise, the interference at any fixed position would be constructive at some instants and destructive at others. But why can't two waves of differing amplitude produce a standing wave?










share|cite|improve this question









$endgroup$
















    1












    $begingroup$


    I understand the reason for which the wavelengths of the incident and reflected waves must be equal: otherwise, the interference at any fixed position would be constructive at some instants and destructive at others. But why can't two waves of differing amplitude produce a standing wave?










    share|cite|improve this question









    $endgroup$














      1












      1








      1


      2



      $begingroup$


      I understand the reason for which the wavelengths of the incident and reflected waves must be equal: otherwise, the interference at any fixed position would be constructive at some instants and destructive at others. But why can't two waves of differing amplitude produce a standing wave?










      share|cite|improve this question









      $endgroup$




      I understand the reason for which the wavelengths of the incident and reflected waves must be equal: otherwise, the interference at any fixed position would be constructive at some instants and destructive at others. But why can't two waves of differing amplitude produce a standing wave?







      waves






      share|cite|improve this question













      share|cite|improve this question











      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question










      asked 2 hours ago









      Julia KimJulia Kim

      274




      274




















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          4












          $begingroup$

          If the travelling waves have the same amplitude then the net rate of transfer of energy at any point is zero and there are stationary positions where the standing wave has zero amplitude - nodes.



          In this animation taken from Acoustics and Vibration Animations the amplitude of the reflected wave is the same as that of the incident wave.



          enter image description here



          If the travelling waves are of unequal amplitude then there is a net transfer of energy.

          If the amplitudes of the two traveling waves are $A$ and $B$ with $A>B$ then you can think of the superposition of the two travelling waves as being the sum of a standing wave formed by two travelling waves of amplitude $B$ and a travelling wave of amplitude $A-B$.



          In this animation the amplitude of the left travelling (incident) wave is larger than that of the right travelling (reflected) wave and so there is a net transfer of energy from left to right.
          enter image description here



          If you look carefully using a vertical ruler as a marker you will observe positions of maximum displacement and positions of minimum (but not zero) displacement.



          The graph bottom left of this video shows this maximum and minimum displacement by overlapping the wave profiles as time progresses.



          enter image description here






          share|cite|improve this answer











          $endgroup$












            Your Answer





            StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
            return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
            StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
            StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
            );
            );
            , "mathjax-editing");

            StackExchange.ready(function()
            var channelOptions =
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "151"
            ;
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
            createEditor();
            );

            else
            createEditor();

            );

            function createEditor()
            StackExchange.prepareEditor(
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: false,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: null,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader:
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            ,
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            );



            );













            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f466359%2fwhy-must-traveling-waves-have-the-same-amplitude-to-form-a-standing-wave%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes








            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            4












            $begingroup$

            If the travelling waves have the same amplitude then the net rate of transfer of energy at any point is zero and there are stationary positions where the standing wave has zero amplitude - nodes.



            In this animation taken from Acoustics and Vibration Animations the amplitude of the reflected wave is the same as that of the incident wave.



            enter image description here



            If the travelling waves are of unequal amplitude then there is a net transfer of energy.

            If the amplitudes of the two traveling waves are $A$ and $B$ with $A>B$ then you can think of the superposition of the two travelling waves as being the sum of a standing wave formed by two travelling waves of amplitude $B$ and a travelling wave of amplitude $A-B$.



            In this animation the amplitude of the left travelling (incident) wave is larger than that of the right travelling (reflected) wave and so there is a net transfer of energy from left to right.
            enter image description here



            If you look carefully using a vertical ruler as a marker you will observe positions of maximum displacement and positions of minimum (but not zero) displacement.



            The graph bottom left of this video shows this maximum and minimum displacement by overlapping the wave profiles as time progresses.



            enter image description here






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$

















              4












              $begingroup$

              If the travelling waves have the same amplitude then the net rate of transfer of energy at any point is zero and there are stationary positions where the standing wave has zero amplitude - nodes.



              In this animation taken from Acoustics and Vibration Animations the amplitude of the reflected wave is the same as that of the incident wave.



              enter image description here



              If the travelling waves are of unequal amplitude then there is a net transfer of energy.

              If the amplitudes of the two traveling waves are $A$ and $B$ with $A>B$ then you can think of the superposition of the two travelling waves as being the sum of a standing wave formed by two travelling waves of amplitude $B$ and a travelling wave of amplitude $A-B$.



              In this animation the amplitude of the left travelling (incident) wave is larger than that of the right travelling (reflected) wave and so there is a net transfer of energy from left to right.
              enter image description here



              If you look carefully using a vertical ruler as a marker you will observe positions of maximum displacement and positions of minimum (but not zero) displacement.



              The graph bottom left of this video shows this maximum and minimum displacement by overlapping the wave profiles as time progresses.



              enter image description here






              share|cite|improve this answer











              $endgroup$















                4












                4








                4





                $begingroup$

                If the travelling waves have the same amplitude then the net rate of transfer of energy at any point is zero and there are stationary positions where the standing wave has zero amplitude - nodes.



                In this animation taken from Acoustics and Vibration Animations the amplitude of the reflected wave is the same as that of the incident wave.



                enter image description here



                If the travelling waves are of unequal amplitude then there is a net transfer of energy.

                If the amplitudes of the two traveling waves are $A$ and $B$ with $A>B$ then you can think of the superposition of the two travelling waves as being the sum of a standing wave formed by two travelling waves of amplitude $B$ and a travelling wave of amplitude $A-B$.



                In this animation the amplitude of the left travelling (incident) wave is larger than that of the right travelling (reflected) wave and so there is a net transfer of energy from left to right.
                enter image description here



                If you look carefully using a vertical ruler as a marker you will observe positions of maximum displacement and positions of minimum (but not zero) displacement.



                The graph bottom left of this video shows this maximum and minimum displacement by overlapping the wave profiles as time progresses.



                enter image description here






                share|cite|improve this answer











                $endgroup$



                If the travelling waves have the same amplitude then the net rate of transfer of energy at any point is zero and there are stationary positions where the standing wave has zero amplitude - nodes.



                In this animation taken from Acoustics and Vibration Animations the amplitude of the reflected wave is the same as that of the incident wave.



                enter image description here



                If the travelling waves are of unequal amplitude then there is a net transfer of energy.

                If the amplitudes of the two traveling waves are $A$ and $B$ with $A>B$ then you can think of the superposition of the two travelling waves as being the sum of a standing wave formed by two travelling waves of amplitude $B$ and a travelling wave of amplitude $A-B$.



                In this animation the amplitude of the left travelling (incident) wave is larger than that of the right travelling (reflected) wave and so there is a net transfer of energy from left to right.
                enter image description here



                If you look carefully using a vertical ruler as a marker you will observe positions of maximum displacement and positions of minimum (but not zero) displacement.



                The graph bottom left of this video shows this maximum and minimum displacement by overlapping the wave profiles as time progresses.



                enter image description here







                share|cite|improve this answer














                share|cite|improve this answer



                share|cite|improve this answer








                edited 1 hour ago

























                answered 1 hour ago









                FarcherFarcher

                50.8k338106




                50.8k338106



























                    draft saved

                    draft discarded
















































                    Thanks for contributing an answer to Physics Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid


                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

                    Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function ()
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fphysics.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f466359%2fwhy-must-traveling-waves-have-the-same-amplitude-to-form-a-standing-wave%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    Lioubotyn Sommaire Géographie | Histoire | Population | Notes et références | Liens externes | Menu de navigationlubotin.kharkov.uamodifier« Recensements et estimations de la population depuis 1897 »« Office des statistiques d'Ukraine : population au 1er janvier 2010, 2011 et 2012 »« Office des statistiques d'Ukraine : population au 1er janvier 2011, 2012 et 2013 »Informations officiellesCartes topographiquesCarte routièrem

                    Isabella Eugénie Boyer Biographie | Références | Menu de navigationmodifiermodifier le codeComparator to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount – 1774 to Present.

                    Mpande kaSenzangakhona Biographie | Références | Menu de navigationmodifierMpande kaSenzangakhonavoir la liste des auteursm