Question

A human wave. During sporting events within large, densely packed stadiums, spectators will send a wave (or pulse) around the stadium (the figure). As the wave reaches a group of spectators, they stand with a cheer and then sit. At any instant, the width w of the wave is the distance from the leading edge (people are just about to stand) to the trailing edge (people have just sat down). Suppose a human wave travels a distance of 889 seats around a stadium in 37.0 s, with spectators requiring about 2.00 s to respond to the wave's passage by standing and then sitting. What are (a) the wave speed v and (b) width w?

Answer 1

a human wave travels a distance of 889 seats around a stadium in 37 s"

velocity = (889 seats)/(33.5 s) = 26.5373seats/second

Note, velocity = seats/seconds

Seats (W) = velocity x seconds

in 2 seconds,

W = 26.5373 x 2 = 53 seats