Derivation of the wave equation.

The wave equation is derived for a very thin uniform string. the string has mass density and is in
equilibrium under tension T.
Now we displace the string slightly from its equilibrium position. And exaggerated view of a small
(infinitesimal) segment is shown below:

The length of the segment is x , hence its mass is:
m x (0.1)
The motion of the string is in the y direction. This means that the horizontal components of the
tension
R
T and
L
T must be equal (and in opposite directions) to some constant :
cos cos
L L R R
T T (0.2)
In the vertical direction we can write Newton's second law equation, namelyF ma noting that
the acceleration is the second derivative of y with respect to time:

2
2
sin sin
y R R L L
y
F T T m
t
(0.3)
sin sin
y R R L L
F T T qE
The mass is given in equation (1.1) and we also divide equation (1.3) by :

2
2
sin sin
R R L L
T T
x y
t
(0.4)

2
2
sin sin
R R L L
electron
T T
V
y
t

However, according to (1.2) we can write it as:

2
2
2
2
2
2
sin sin
sin sin
sin sin
cos cos
R R L L
R R L L
R R L L
R R L L
T T
x y
t
T T
x y
t
T T
x y
t T T


2
2
tan tan
R L
x y
t
(0.5)

2
2
tan tan
electron
R L
V
y
t

But the tangents of the angles are, by definition, the derivatives of y with respect to x, hence:

2
2
x x x
y y x y
x x t
(0.6)

Dividing both sides by x we get:

2
2
1
x x x
y y y
x x x t
(0.7)

2
2
1
electron x x x
y y y
V x x t

If we take the limit of an infinitesimal segment, 0 x , the left hand side becomes the second
partial derivative with respect to x (by definition).
Cant get double derivative here because of
electron
V
Furthermore, when the segment is very short and the string is not far from equilibrium, the tension
is for all practical reasons equals the original tension T.
This turns equation (1.7) into the well known one dimensional wave equation:

2 2
2 2
y y
T x t
(0.8)
Or:

2 2
2 2
T y y
T x t
(0.9)
The units of the constant coefficient T are:

-2 2
-1 2
kg m s m
kg m s
T
(0.10)
This are units of the square of a speed.
Hence we can define the wave's propagation speed:

2
T
c (0.11)
And the one dimensional wave equation is:

2 2
2
2 2
y y
c
x t
(0.12)