If two waves with equal amplitudes and wavelengths travel through a medium in such a way that a particular particle of the medium is at the crest of one wave and at the trough of the other wave at the same time, what will happen to that particle?

Question

Question 13 options:

A)

The particle will cause beats as a result of the wave combination.

B)

The particle will remain stationary due to interference.

C)

The particle will vibrate with double amplitude due to resonance.

D)

The particle will move halfway to the crest due to reinforcement.

Answer 1

When two waves of equal amplitudes travel through a medium and one wave is at a crest while the other is at a trough at a particular point, they will interfere destructively. This means the displacements of the waves will effectively cancel each other out at that point.

In this case, the crest of one wave has a positive displacement and the trough of the other wave has a corresponding negative displacement of equal size. Therefore, the total displacement at that point will be zero, and that particle in the medium will remain stationary due to this destructive interference.

Thus, the correct answer is:

B) The particle will remain stationary due to interference.