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Re: [Phys-L] A waves question



But isn't that what he was asking... what happens to the energy at the nodes... the rope is not moving to convert energy into movement, so where is the energy?

On Jun 22, 2012, at 1:52 PM, Andre Adler wrote:

Destructive interference does not necessarily occur every the individual waves are, but if it is a standing wave, such as on a rope, the rope has kinetic energy of motion (except at the nodes).

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