Mechanical waves

Mechanical waves 3D virtual laboratory work on physics (section: Mechanics).

Purpose: Simulation of a laboratory work on general physics.

PURPOSE OF THE EXPERIENCE: Investigation of standing waves in a stretched rope.

DESCRIPTION: Examples of systems in which mechanical waves occur include a tensile cylindrical spring where longitudinal waves occur, and a stretched rope where transverse waves occur. In either case, standing waves will be established if one end of the system where they propagate is fixed stationary. This is because the incident wave and the wave reflected from the anchoring point have the same amplitudes and overlap each other. If the other end is fixed as well, the waves can only propagate if the resonance conditions are met. In this experiment the rope is attached to one of its ends. The other end, at a distance L from the point of fixed attachment, is attached to a vibration generator in which a signal generator of various forms is used to excite oscillations of small amplitude with variable frequency f. To some extent, this end can also be considered as a fixed point. The natural frequency of the vibration is measured by the number of standing wave nodes. The wave propagation velocity can then be calculated from these data.