Question

Consider two pulses (a wave with only a single peak) traveling towards each other on a string. When the instant that the peaks of these two pulses cross, the resultant disturbance has a maximum displacement of 3.80 A where A is the amplitude of the first pulse. What must be the amplitude of the second pulse be

Answer 1

2.8A

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the total amplitude (when both pulses meet), we need to add up the amplitudes of each pulse. Since A is the amplitude of the first pulse, and we can call B the amplitude of the second pulse and C the total amplitude, we have that A+B=C=3.8A, which means that B=3.8A-A=2.8A, which we have already said is the amplitude of the second pulse.