Standing waves

Standing waves in a string: the speed with which the wave travels does not depend on the vibration that causes the wave, but on the properties of medium. In the case of string, the speed depends on the tension of the string and the mass per unit length. The vibration does affect the wavelength of the wave. Let us consider a length of string attached at one end to a vibrating object and at the …

…opening near the source. For a standing wave to from in this case, the reflected wave must constructively interfere with this rarefaction produced by the next cycle rather than with the source itself. V=2L/T L=λ/2 In general, for columns open at both ends L=Nλ/2 N=1, 2, 3, ... This is analogous to waves in string N=1 (fundamental or first harmonic) N=2 (first overtone or second harmonic) N=3 (second overtone or third harmonic) N=...