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Pulse Junction

Send pulses into each other, into a wall and across a joint. Find the heights they make.

Physics · Class 11 · Superposition, reflection and joints · 8 simulations. For JEE, NEET and your boards.

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What you'll learn

  1. Pulses meet: Superposition: heights add with their signs
  2. A quarter turn apart: Adding two waves: A² = A₁² + A₂² + 2A₁A₂ cos δ
  3. Set the gap: The gap from the sum: cos δ = (A² − A₁² − A₂²)/(2A₁A₂)
  4. Half a wave behind: Path gap to phase gap: δ = 360° × Δx/λ
  5. Hit the wall: A fixed end flips the pulse
  6. Ring on a pole: A free end keeps the pulse upright
  7. Light into heavy: At a joint: r = (v₂ − v₁)/(v₁ + v₂), t = 2v₂/(v₁ + v₂)
  8. Heavy into light: Into a faster string: the passed pulse grows