Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: [Phys-L] A waves question



Sorry for the typos in my first response to this question.

Destructive interference can be local, so that it does not occur everywhere the waves are located, as in a two-slit interference pattern.


On Jun 22, 2012, at 1:33 PM, Peter Schoch wrote:

A fairly inquisitive student came up with the following question, and I thought I'd get the reaction of the list as to the best answer.

The course is "Liberal Arts Physics" -- designed as a survey course for those LA majors that need one semester of a science. The theme was energy conservation (a bit broad, and I would narrow it a bit next time I do it).

We are discussing waves. The student asked the following (more or less)

If a wave can transit energy that is proportional to its amplitude squared, and energy can't be created or destroyed, what happens to the energy when two waves destructively interfere?


Peter Schoch
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@mail.phys-l.org
http://www.phys-l.org/mailman/listinfo/phys-l