University of Calgary Department of Physics and Astronomy

Physics 369 Spring 2010

Assignment #4 Due: Before 10:00 AM, Wednesday, June 16,
in the drop box “Assignments” opposite ST 043.

1. At 25.0o C the density of water and kerosene is 997.0kg / m 3 , and 817.2kg / m 3 , respectively.
The bulk modulus of water and kerosene at this temperature is 2.22  10 9 Pa , and 1.43  10 9 Pa ,
respectively.

[2] (a) Calculate the speed of sound in water and kerosene and the impedance of water and kerosene.

[1] (b) In a large water container there is a thick layer of kerosene on the surface of the water. Calculate
the amplitude reflection and transmission coefficients for a plane sound wave arriving
at the water kerosene boundary at normal incidence.

[1] (c) If the total intensity of the incident wave in part (b) is 1.00W , find the intensity of the reflected
and transmitted waves.

[1] (d) Calculate the amplitude standing wave ratio for the water kerosene interface.
Carry four digits throughout all the calculations.

2. The thinnest string on a guitar, the E string, has a fundamental frequency of 330 Hz (exactly 329.63Hz)
and plays an E note. By pressing down on it at the third fret the string is shortened by 10.28cm and plays
a G note, which has a frequency of 392Hz.

[2] (a) How long is the E string?.

[3] (b) If the fundamental frequency the E string vibrates in one segment with an amplitude of 3.00mm at
the only anti-node point. Write down an expression for one antinode standing wave and substitute in
this expression the appropriate values for the amplitude A , angular frequency  , and the wave
number k .

[1] (c) Calculate the amplitude of the wave written in part (b) at a distance of 20.0cm from the end of the string.

[4] 3. A French submarine and the U.S. submarine move

during maneuvers in equatorial waters of the Pacific
as shown in the figure below. Cromwell current, also
called the Pacific Equatorial Undercurrent, is a N
gigantic submarine river that flows to the East under
the surface of the ocean at a speed w  1.50m / s . 40.0o
15.0o

The French sub moves at v F  15.0m / s and the 

vUS
U.S. sub moves at vUS  20.0m / s . These velocities 
vF 
are relative to the bottom of the ocean. The French w
sub sends out a sonar signal of a frequency
f o  1000Hz that travels in ocean waters with a 20.0 o
speed c  1520m / s . What is the signal’s frequency
as detected by the U.S. sub?
 2

4. Two hypothetical harmonic plane waves travel in a hypothetical dispersive medium in the positive x direction.
The equations of the waves are :

y1 ( x, t )  A sin( 2 x  3t )
y 2 ( x, t )  A sin( 2.4 x  4t )
where x is in meters and t in seconds.

[1] (a) Find the speed of each wave.

[4] (b) The superposition of these two waves y ( x, t )  y1 ( x, t )  y 2 ( x, t ) is given by the expression

y ( x , t )  2 A cos(  k  x    t )  cos( k x   t )

Find the values of k ,  , k and  . Calculate also the values of the phase velocity vp of the
carrier wave and the group velocity vg of the modulating envelope.

[1] (c) Does the hypothetical medium show normal or anomalous dispersion?

Total: 20 marks.

JKB/June 10/2010