in constructive interference of sound waves of two sources .. compressions from the first source meets compressions from the second source .. and amplitude increases and sound is louder.. and the path difference equals m x wave length .
what does (the path difference) means ?
2006-09-18 06:45:45 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
it means that if the waves travel two different paths, the difference in distances that the waves had to travel is the path difference... for example, one wave travels a straight line, and the other is bounced off the ground, the distance travelled by each wave is going to be different. IF the path length is an equal multiple of the wavelength (ie, when the waves come together they perfectly overlap point for point as in your example) then you get an amplified signal that has peak amplitude equal to the total sum of the component signals. If they overlap such that they are perfectly "misalligned" (path length is a half, one and a half, two and a half, etc wavelengths) then they will overlap with a crest on a trough. they will interfere and will cancel each other out in this case. Any other multiples create interference patterns that i would have to graph out to figure out. Hope this helps
2006-09-18 07:01:46 · answer #1 · answered by promethius9594 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The path difference is the difference in distance that the two waves have to travel from their respective sources, to the point where the interference is being measured.
This is important in measuring interference because if two waves are the same wavelength, but there's a path difference equivelant to, for sake of example, half the distance of wavelength, the waves will destructively interfere.
If the path differences are whole multiples of the wavelengths, they interfere constructively.
2006-09-18 06:56:16 · answer #2 · answered by James N 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You stay insane.
2006-09-18 06:47:39 · answer #3 · answered by L S 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋