SlinkyLab

foryourSlinkyBadge

Activity1:WavePulsesandInterference
Inthislabyouwillcreatedifferenttypesofwavesinordertodiscussthe
differencesandsimilaritiesbetweenthem.Youwillthentypeupyourresponses
intoafridgeworthydocumentforyourSlinkyBadge.
Workingwithapartnerandaslinky,completethefollowingactivities.
Test1:Stretchtheslinkyoutonthetable.Shaketheslinky(upordown)sharplytotherightorleftone
timetoproduceawavepulse.Makethreesketchesofwhattheslinkylookedlikeatthreedifferent
timestoshowtheprogressionofthewave.

Question1:Isthisatransverseorlongitudinalwave?Explainusingyoursketchesand
observations
Thisisatransversewavebecausethewavemovesinanupanddownmotion,perpendicularfrom
theequilibriumstate.

Test2.Withtheslinkystillstretched,sharplypushtheslinkyinwardonetime.Makethreesketchesof
whattheslinkylookedlikeatthreedifferenttimestoshowtheprogressionofthewave.

Question2: Isthisatransverseoralongitudinalwave?Explainusingyoursketchesand
observations
Thisisalongitudinalwavebecause,unlikeatransversewave,thewavehascompressionsmoving
backandforthinthesamedirectionastheequilibriumstate.Asyoucanseeinmydrawings,asthe
wavemovesalongtheslinkytheareasofcompressionarelooserandlargerspread.

Question3:Inwhatwaysarethesetwowavesdifferentandinwhatwaysaretheythesame?
TransverseandLongitudinalwavesaresimilarbecausetheyarebothdisturbancesfromthe
equilibriumstateoftheslinky.Theyalsobothtransferenergybackandforthfromcoiltocoil.The
differenceisthatalongitudinalwavecompressionsandrefractionsmovingbackandforthinthe
samedirectionasaslinkyButatransversewavemoveupanddownperpendicularly.

Test3.Placealightobjectlikeacrumpledpieceofpaperbesidetheslinkynearoneend.Createa
transversewavepulsefromtheotherendthatcausesthecuptomove.

Question4&Question5:Theobjectwasinitiallyatrest,andthenbegantomove.Whattypeof
energydidtheobjectgain?Wheredidthisenergycomefrom?
AsIdoworkontheendoftheslinkybypushingorpullingit,Coiltransferskineticenergytoeach
otherthepieceofpaperwasatrestbutastheslinkyhititittransferskineticenergytomakeitmove
acrossthetable.

Question6:Wouldthisexperimenthaveworkedwithalongitudinalwave(withtheobjectinthesame
position)?Explainyourreasoning.
IfIweretohaveusealongitudinalwavetotrytomovethepieceofpaperitwouldn'thaveworked.
theTransversewavemovedhecrumpledpieceofpaperbecauseitwasmovingperpendicularly.A
longitudinalwaveonlymoveparalleltotheslinkythereforewouldnottouchthepieceofpaper.

Test4)Generateasingletransversewavepulsebymovingyourhandquicklytoeithertheleftorright.
Observethevelocitywithwhichthewavetravelsthroughtheslinky.Nowchangethetensioninthe
slinky.Gatheraboutaquarteroftheslinkyinyourhandsmakingthistheendandthenstretchthe
remainingslinky2to3meterslikebefore.Makeawavepulsewithasclosetoanidentical
disturbanceasyoudidaboveandnotethetimeittakestogettotheotherend.Repeatthisagain
makingtheslinkyeventighter.Describehowchangingthetensionaffectsthecharacteristicsofthe
wave(wavelengthandspeed).

Wechosetoconductourtestsatthedistanceof9feetand8inches(116inches).Forourfirsttest,
weeachheld5coilsoneachsideoftheslinkyallowingittodrapejustabit.Ittook0.75secondsfor
atransversewavetocompletefromendtoend(V=154inchespersecond).Foroursecondtestwe

triedholding15coilsoneachendandfoundthatthewaveonlytook0.52seconds,speedingare
Velocityupto223inchespersecond.Lastlywhichheld25coilsoneachendoftheslinkyandfound
thatthewavetookonly0.25secondstocomplete,again,speedingthevelocityupto464inchesper
second.

Activity2:ResonantFrequenciesharmonics
Insteadofjustproducingwavepulses,youwillnowproducecontinuouswaveswhichtraveldownthe
slinky.Youwillalsoproducecontinuouswaveswhichappeartobestandingstill.Thesearecalled
standingwavesandareaspecialcaseofacontinuouswave.Theycanbeproducedatonlycertain
frequencies.Itmaytakesomepracticetoproperlyproducedifferentnumbersofstandingwaves.In
thissectionyouwillbedeterminingthefrequencyofdifferentstandingwavesandcomingupwitha
generalequationthatcanbeusedforallstandingwaves.

StandingWaves:
Test5:Nowproduceatransversecontinuousstandingwaveandsketchhowtheslinkyappears

Question7:Explainthedifferencebetweencontinuoustravelingwavesandcontinuousstanding
waves.
Thedifferencebetweenthetwowavesismainlythatacontinuousstandingwaveappearstobe
stayingatthesametwopositionswhileacontinuoustravelingwaveismoreirregular.

Question8:Youwillwanttodeterminethefrequencyofvariousstandingwaves.(Besuretokeep
yourslinkystretchedtothesamelengthforalltheseexperiments.)Whatisagoodmethodfordoing
this?(Besuretothinkofwaystominimizeerrorandlistthese.)
Thewaythatweconductedtheseexperimentswasthatwemeasuredanareaandmarkeditwith
trucksoweknewwewouldbestandinginthesamespotforalloftheseexperiments.thenwe
decidedtovideotapeourtestsowecouldgobackandlookatthem.Itwasalsoeasytokeeptrack
ofcyclesandsecondsthatwereoccurringinthevideo.

Problem1:Usingyourmethod,determinethefrequencyforasinglestandingwave.Besureto
showyourdataandincludeproperunitsinyouranswer.

Forthisexperimentwegeneratedafirstharmonicstandingwavewefoundthat
Frequency=1.5cyclespersecond
Period=.75secondspercycle
TofindthePeriodIusedthevideothatItookandobservedhowlongittookforthewaveto
complete1cycle.TofindtheFrequencyIobservedhowmanycycleswerecompletedin1second.

Problem2:Whatisthewavelengthofthiswave?(Besuretoexplainwhereyourresultcamefrom
useadiagram.)Includeproperunitsinyouranswer.Hint:M easurethenodes.

Throughthisexperimentwefoundthatafirstharmonicisonlyhalfawave.Thereforeitswavelength
isdoublethethefirstharmonicslength.
Wavelength=144inches

Problem3:Whatisthevelocityofthiswave?Showyourwork!Recallthatvelocity(v),
v=wavelength*frequency(*f)andincludeproperunitsinyouranswer.
TosolvethisproblemIusedtheformulav=*f.BecauseofthepreviousproblemsIalreadyknew
thewavelengthandhowtosolveforthefrequency.Thefrequencyofthefirstharmonicwavewas1.5
cyclespersecondanditswavelengthwas144inches.

144*1.5/1=v
144*1.5=v
V=216inchespersecond

Test6:Withtheslinkystretchedthesameamountasabove,trytocreateadoublestandingwave.
Problem4:Usingthesamemethod,determinethefrequencyofthiswave.
Aswegeneratedasecondharmonicwavewefoundthatthat
Frequency=2cyclespersecond.

Question9:Howdoesthefrequencycomparetothatofthesinglestandingwave?Whatdoyouthink
thefrequencyofatriplestandingwavewouldbe?
Thefrequencyofoursinglestandingwavewas1.5cyclespersecondandadoublestandingwave
was2cyclespersecond.InoticedthatthefrequencywashigherforthedoublestandingwaveI
suspectthatthetriplestandingwavesfrequencywillcontinuetospeedupandbe2.5cyclesper
second.

Problem5:Whatisthew avelengthofthedoublestandingwave.Howdoesitcomparetothatofthe
singlestandingwave?Whatdoyouthinkthewavelengthofatriplestandingwavewouldbe?
AsImentionedinproblem2,afirstharmonicwaveisonlyhalfawave,sincewestretchedtheslinky
72inchesthewavelengthwas144inches.Adoublestandingwaveisafullwavelengthandsincewe
createditin72inches,
Wavelength=72inches

Isuspectthatthewavelengthofatriplestandingwavewillbe.3oftheslinkyslength(72inches).

Problem6:Asabove,calculatethevelocityofthedoublestandingwave.Whatdoyouobserveabout
thedifferenceinvelocitiesofthesingleanddoublewaves?
DoubleStandingWaveVelocity
*f=v
72*2/1=v
72*2=v
V=144inchespersecond

Inoticedthatthefrequencyspedupbetweenbothwaves,Ialsonoticedthatittookmoreeffortand
wehadtoputinmoreworktogenerateadoublestandingwavethanwhengeneratingasingle
standingwave.