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Re: [Phys-L] A waves question



Hi,

I think the "Liberal Arts" level answer is that the
energy is at the places of constructive interference.

Thanks
Roger Haar

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On 6/22/2012 10:33 AM, 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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