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Re: [Phys-L] [SPAM] A waves question



Good question! Well, there are also places of constructive interference,
and also destructive interference. Isn't the total energy conserved, but
certain places can have "more" or "less"?


Phys-L@Phys-L.org writes:
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
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