Question

In a standing wave the amplitude of a particle is fixed, but varies from particle to particle. True or False?

(a) True

(b) False

The question was asked in an online interview.

This is a very interesting question from Reflection of Waves topic in section Waves of Physics – Class 11

Answer 1

The correct choice is (a) True

To explain: A standing wave neither moves left or right, all particles between two nodes are in the same phase.                                                                                                                                                                       The equation of a standing wave is of the form Asin(kx)cos(wt),

where Asin(kx) is the amplitude which is different for different values of x.

This shows that for each value of x we get a different value of amplitude.