Question

The figure shows the displacement y of a traveling wave at a given position as a function of time and the displacement of the same wave at a given time as a function of position. y (cm) -1 -2 What is the period of the wave? 2 (cm) x m -2 O 0.75s

Answer 1

From the displacement ( y) vs time (t) graph of the particle, it can be seen that

y(t+T) = y(t-T) = y(t) if T=4.0s

i.e. the pattern repeats itself after every 4.0s. For example, the first and second positive peaks of y ( Y_max = 2 cm) are observed at t= 0 s and t = 4.0 s respectively.

The time period of the wave is 4.0 s.