(String Vibration)

Review of Related literature

The type of wave involve in the experiment is a standing wave. This type of
wave is produced through the interference of two waves. These two waves with the
same frequency interfere with each other while moving in opposite directions
supposing that they are traveling in the same medium.1 The standing wave pattern
in this experiment was produced in a inelastic string connected to a string vibrator
with constant frequency. In order for an interference to be made in the experiment,
the wave produced by the string vibrator is bounced back by the hanging mass at
the end of the string and interferes with the incoming wave produced again by the
string vibrator.
Standing waves have two parts, the nodes and the antinodes. The points
along the medium that seems to be standing still are called the nodes. They are also
described as points that have no displacement. On the other hand, there are also
points that experience a large positive and negative displacement. These are the
points that experience the maximum displacement during each interference.2 As
pointed out, the experiment will determine how much mass is needed to change the
number of segments. A segment in this experiment is consists of two nodes.
The speed of the wave is affected by the stretching force and the frequency
of the wave. For any wave that has a wavelength and a frequency f, its wave
speed v can be determined as follows:
v = f
There is also another way in determining the speed of the wave. It can also
be determined by knowing its tension and mass per unit length.
v=

where T tension; linear mass density

1 Standing Wave Formation on a String. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/waves/swf.cfm
2 Nodes and Anti-nodes. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson-4/Nodes-and-Anti-nodes

The tension involve here is the force applied along the string and is in
Newtons while the linear mass density is the ratio between the mass of the string
used and its length. The linear mass density is measured in grams per meter. The
formula above indicates that the tighter the string, the faster the waves will travel
down its length and also, the lighter the string, the faster the waves will travel
down its medium.3 In this experiment, the researcher will use both equations and
will determine the percentage error between the values that will be yield by these
respective equations.

3 Colwell, C. H. (n.d.). PhysicsLAB: Speed of Waves Along a String. Retrieved from

http://dev.physicslab.org/Document.aspx?
doctype=3&filename=WavesSound_WavesAlongStrings.xml

References
Colwell, C. H. (n.d.). PhysicsLAB: Speed of Waves Along a String. Retrieved from
http://dev.physicslab.org/Document.aspx?
doctype=3&filename=WavesSound_WavesAlongStrings.xml

Nodes and Anti-nodes. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson-4/Nodes-and-Anti-nodes
Standing Wave Formation on a String. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/waves/swf.cfm