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By the end of this section, you will be able to:
  • Explain how energy travels with a pulse or wave
  • Describe, using a mathematical expression, how the energy in a wave depends on the amplitude of the wave

All waves carry energy, and sometimes this can be directly observed. Earthquakes can shake whole cities to the ground, performing the work of thousands of wrecking balls ( [link] ). Loud sounds can pulverize nerve cells in the inner ear, causing permanent hearing loss. Ultrasound is used for deep-heat treatment of muscle strains. A laser beam can burn away a malignancy. Water waves chew up beaches.

Property damaged by an earthquake. Many buildings have collapsed.
The destructive effect of an earthquake is observable evidence of the energy carried in these waves. The Richter scale rating of earthquakes is a logarithmic scale related to both their amplitude and the energy they carry.

In this section, we examine the quantitative expression of energy in waves. This will be of fundamental importance in later discussions of waves, from sound to light to quantum mechanics.

Energy in waves

The amount of energy in a wave is related to its amplitude and its frequency. Large-amplitude earthquakes produce large ground displacements. Loud sounds have high-pressure amplitudes and come from larger-amplitude source vibrations than soft sounds. Large ocean breakers churn up the shore more than small ones. Consider the example of the seagull and the water wave earlier in the chapter ( [link] ). Work is done on the seagull by the wave as the seagull is moved up, changing its potential energy. The larger the amplitude, the higher the seagull is lifted by the wave and the larger the change in potential energy.

The energy of the wave depends on both the amplitude and the frequency. If the energy of each wavelength is considered to be a discrete packet of energy, a high-frequency wave will deliver more of these packets per unit time than a low-frequency wave. We will see that the average rate of energy transfer in mechanical waves is proportional to both the square of the amplitude and the square of the frequency. If two mechanical waves have equal amplitudes, but one wave has a frequency equal to twice the frequency of the other, the higher-frequency wave will have a rate of energy transfer a factor of four times as great as the rate of energy transfer of the lower-frequency wave. It should be noted that although the rate of energy transport is proportional to both the square of the amplitude and square of the frequency in mechanical waves, the rate of energy transfer in electromagnetic waves is proportional to the square of the amplitude, but independent of the frequency.

Power in waves

Consider a sinusoidal wave on a string that is produced by a string vibrator, as shown in [link] . The string vibrator is a device that vibrates a rod up and down. A string of uniform linear mass density is attached to the rod, and the rod oscillates the string, producing a sinusoidal wave. The rod does work on the string, producing energy that propagates along the string. Consider a mass element of the string with a mass Δ m , as seen in [link] . As the energy propagates along the string, each mass element of the string is driven up and down at the same frequency as the wave. Each mass element of the string can be modeled as a simple harmonic oscillator. Since the string has a constant linear density μ = Δ m Δ x , each mass element of the string has the mass Δ m = μ Δ x .

Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
Aislinn Reply
cm
tijani
what is titration
John Reply
what is physics
Siyaka Reply
A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Jude Reply
Can you compute that for me. Ty
Jude
what is the dimension formula of energy?
David Reply
what is viscosity?
David
what is inorganic
emma Reply
what is chemistry
Youesf Reply
what is inorganic
emma
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
Adjei
please, I'm a physics student and I need help in physics
Adjanou
chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.
Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
Krampah Reply
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
Sahid Reply
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
Samuel Reply
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
Ryan
what's motion
Maurice Reply
what are the types of wave
Maurice
answer
Magreth
progressive wave
Magreth
hello friend how are you
Muhammad Reply
fine, how about you?
Mohammed
hi
Mujahid
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
yasuo Reply
Who can show me the full solution in this problem?
Reofrir Reply
Practice Key Terms 1

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Source:  OpenStax, University physics volume 1. OpenStax CNX. Sep 19, 2016 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col12031/1.5
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