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] |
Yes, but what is the physical mechanism whereby the cancelling, reflected
wave is generated?
Perhaps something like: When an upward going vertical pulse on a rope
encounters a rigid wall termination, the last rope segment exerts an upward
force on the wall. The wall responds by exerting a downward pull on the
rope segment (by N3), thus starting a downward going vertical pulse on the
rope.
The mathematical argument shows how WE KNOW that some such mechanism
must be acting; only the physics (Newton's laws in the rope case) can
identify
that mechanism.
The theorist is often completely satisfied with only the mathematical
answer; the unwashed student has yet not acquired sufficiently naive faith
in mathematical models; he still requires the confirmation of a physical
mechanism.