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Derivation of Wave Equation in Rectangular Coordinates PDF

The wave equation describes waves propagating through space as a function of position and time. For a one-dimensional wave on a string with fixed ends, the general solution is a sum of sinusoidal waves with wavelengths that are integer multiples of the string length. The amplitudes of each wave are determined by the initial displacement and velocity of the string through Fourier analysis.

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942 views7 pages

Derivation of Wave Equation in Rectangular Coordinates PDF

The wave equation describes waves propagating through space as a function of position and time. For a one-dimensional wave on a string with fixed ends, the general solution is a sum of sinusoidal waves with wavelengths that are integer multiples of the string length. The amplitudes of each wave are determined by the initial displacement and velocity of the string through Fourier analysis.

Uploaded by

rao asad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Wave equation in Cartesian coordinates

• The wave equation is given in one spatial dimension

∂2u 1 ∂2u
=
∂x 2 v 2 ∂t 2
• We again use separation of variables u(x, t) = X (x)T (t), and
then we can write the wave equation as,

X 00 1 T 00
= 2 = −k 2
X v T
• Hence we wind up with two Helmholtz equations to solve,

X 00 + k 2 X = 0

T 00 + k 2 v 2 T = 0
Wave equation in Cartesian coordinates, continued
• We find solutions T (t) = sin ωt, T (t) = cos ωt, X (x) = sin kx,
and X (x) = cos kx
• Here the angular frequency ω = kv , and k = 2π/λ
• From y (x, t) = X (x)T (t), we have four different basic solutions

y (x, t) = sin kx sin ωt

y (x, t) = sin kx cos ωt

y (x, t) = cos kx sin ωt

y (x, t) = cos kx cos ωt


• We can have linear combinations of solutions of this kind
depending on the boundary conditions and initial conditions
(superposition principle!)
Example: Waves on a string with fixed ends

• Imagine a string (e.g. a guitar string) fixed at the ends, so that


y (x = 0, t) = y (x = l, t) = 0
• We then see that y (x, t) = cos kx sin ωt and
y (x, t) = cos kx cos ωt are not acceptable, since cos 0 = 1
• To satisfy the boundary condition at x = l, we require that
sin kl = 0. There are many values k that can do this!
• We take kn = nπ/l with n = 1, 2, 3, ..., since sin kn l = sin nπ = 0
• From ω = kv , we get ωn = kn v = nπv l and we have two solutions

nπx nπvt
y (x, t) = sin sin
l l
nπx nπvt
y (x, t) = sin cos
l l
Example: Waves on a string with fixed ends

• Then because we can apply the principle of superpostion, the


most general solution we can write is,
∞
X nπx h nπvt nπvt i
y (x, t) = sin an cos + bn sin
l l l
n=1

• To determine the an and the bn we need initial conditions!


• We will get a Fourier series for the initial displacement and
velocity of the string
• Because the wave equation is second-order in time, we need two
initial conditions (and hence we have an and bn
Example: Waves on a string with fixed ends, initial
conditions

• We can solve if we know the displacement at two times, or the


velocity at two times
• More often, we specify the displacement and velocity at some
time, usually t = 0 since the origin of time we can always specify
• Assume we observe y (x, t = 0) = y0 (x) and dydx |t=0 = v0 (x)
∞
X nπx h nπvt nπvt i
y (x, t) = sin an cos + bn sin
l l l
n=1

• At t = 0 the displacement is then


∞
X nπx
y (x, t = 0) = y0 (x) = an sin
l
n=1
Example: Waves on a string with fixed ends, initial
conditions

• We take the time-derivative of our expansion, and then set t = 0,


∞
dy X  nπv  nπx
|t=0 = v0 (x) = bn sin
dt l l
n=1

• We see that both y0 (x) and v0 (x) are given by a Fourier series
• Notice compared to before, when we expanded periodic
functions, the y0 (x) and v0 (x) are not periodic with period l
• However, we can show that the sin nπx l make a complete,
orthogonal set over the interval 0 < x < l
Z l
mπx nπx l
sin sin dx = δm,n
0 l l 2
Example: Waves on a string with fixed ends, initial
conditions
• So from the initial conditions we have
∞
X nπx
y0 (x) = an sin
l
n=1
∞  nπv 
X nπx
v0 (x) = bn sin
l l
n=1

• Using the orthogonality of the sin nπx/l terms,


Z l
2 nπx
an = y0 (x) sin dx
l 0 l
Z l
2 nπx
bn = v0 (x) sin dx
nπv 0 l

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