4.

5 Standing wave questions

1. This question is about standing waves in pipes. The diagram below shows two pipes of
the same length. Pipe A is open at both ends and pipe B is closed at one end.

A B

i. On the diagrams draw lines to represent the waveforms of the fundamental (1 st

harmonic) frequency for each pipe.
ii. Label the nodes and antinodes.
iii. The frequency of the fundamental of pipe A is 500 Hz. Assuming the speed of sound
is 330 m.s-1, calculate the length of the pipe.
2. A 40-cm long string, with one end clamped and the other free to move transversely, is
vibrating in its fundamental standing wave mode. If the wave speed is 320 cms -1, what is
the frequency?
3. A glass tube is closed at one end. The air column inside the tube has a length that can be
varied between 0.50m and 1.50m. If a tuning fork of frequency 300 Hz is sounded at the
top of the tube, at which lengths of air column would a standing
wave occur? (Use speed of sound above)
4. A rope is held tightly and shook until the standing wave pattern
shown in the diagram at the right is established within the rope.
The distance A in the diagram is 3.27 meters. The speed at which
-1
waves move along the rope is 2.62 ms . Determine the frequency of the waves creating
the standing wave pattern.
5. Alice ties a rope to a tree, stands 7.2 m away, and vibrates the
rope up and down with 28 complete cycles in 5.0 seconds. The
resulting standing wave pattern is shown in the diagram at the
right. Use this information and the diagram to determine the
amplitude, wavelength, frequency and speed.
6. Roberto drives down Wiertnicza and observes an odd vibrational pattern of his
car ariel. He observes it vibrating back and forth in the manner shown at the
right. There is an antinode at its free end and a node at the location where
the antenna mounts to the car. Vibrations travel through the 86 cm tall
antenna at 5.0 x 103 ms-1. Determine the frequency of vibrations of the
antenna.