"Vibrators A and B are sources of waves with different wavelengths and they are placed close to one another in a ripple tank. Waves from source A have a wavelength of 8.0cm while those from B have a wavelength of 10cm. The waves start out in phase with each other. For each distance below, state whether the waves will experience constructive or destructive interference.

Question

a) 20cm from both sources
b) 40cm from both sources
c) 80cm from A and 70cm from B
d) 40cm from A and 75cm from B"

I know what constructive and destructive interference are, but I don't know what to do in order to solve this question.

Answer 1

Calculate the number of waves between source and receiver for each case.

For case b), you are 5 wavelengths from A ande 4 wavelengths from B.

That would be a constructive interference situation.

Do the others similarly.

Answer 2

Thank you so much!