Jewell Moreno

Ted Cuevas
Physics - Sector 19
5-5-16

Slinky Lab
Test 1: Shake the slinky (up or down) sharply to the right or left one time to produce
a wave pulse. Make three sketches of what the slinky looked like at three different
times to show the progression of the wave.

Question 1: Is this a transverse or longitudinal wave? Explain using your sketches

and observations
This is a transverse wave because the waves are going up and down instead of
forwards and backward, like a longitudinal wave. The coils or particles are moving
perpendicular to the direction the wave is traveling.
Test 2. With the slinky still stretched, sharply push the slinky inward one time. Make
three sketches of what the slinky looked like at three different times to show the
progression of the wave.

Question 2: Is this a transverse or a longitudinal wave? Explain using your sketches

and observations
This is a longitudinal wave because you could see how the coils are compressed
since the pulse was a forwards and backwards motion. The coils or particles are
moving parallel to the direction the wave is moving.
Question 3: In what ways are these two waves different and in what ways are they
the same?
They are different because they move in different directions. The transverse wave
moves only on the y-axis and the longitudinal wave moves only on the x-axis.They
are the same because they both have coils that are transferring energy from one
another and they both look like they bounce back.
Test 3. Place a light object like a crumpled piece of paper beside the slinky near one
end. Create a transverse wave pulse from the other end that causes the object to
move.
Question 4: The object was initially at rest, and then began to move. What type of
energy did the object gain?

The transverse wave traveled from one side to the other and when it reached the
paper, pushed it, resulting in the paper gaining kinetic energy.
Question 5: Where did this energy come from?
The energy came from the person who started the wave. When the wave traveled to
the other side, it pushed the paper.
Question 6: Would this experiment have worked with a longitudinal wave (with the
object in the same position)? Explain your reasoning.
No, it would not have worked because a longitudinal wave stays on the x-axis
(moves from left to right) and wouldn't be able to reach the paper, which is slightly
above it on the y-axis.
Test 4) Now change the tension in the slinky. Repeat this again making the slinky
even tighter. Describe how changing the tension affects the characteristics of the
wave (wavelength and speed).
With less tension, the waves are longer and travel slower, but when the tension is
increased, the waves are shorter and travel faster.

Standing Waves:

Test 5: Now produce a transverse continuous standing wave and sketch how the
slinky appears

Question 7: Explain the difference between continuous traveling waves and

continuous standing waves.
A continuous traveling wave can have more than one wave and is traveling all
around the slinky while the continuous standing wave has waves that just move up
and down, making it seem like its just standing in place.
Question 8: You will want to determine the frequency of various standing waves.
What is a good method for doing this?
The best way to find the frequency of the wave, which is the number of oscillations in
one second, is to record your wave and count how many oscillations are in your
recording. Then you just divide the number of oscillations by the number of seconds
in your video.
Problem 1: Using your method, determine the frequency for a single standing
wave. Be sure to show your data and include proper units in your answer.

To determine the frequency, we recorded our wave for 5 seconds and counted 8 total
oscillations in the video. We then divided 8(oscillations) by 5(seconds) and got 1.6
oscillations per second, which is the frequency.
Problem 2: What is the wavelength of this wave? (Be sure to explain where your
result came from - use a diagram.) Include proper units in your answer. Hint:
Measure the nodes.
Our wavelength is four meters because we did a single standing wave that was two
meters apart. A full wave is two standing waves, therefore making our wavelength
four.
Problem 3: What is the velocity of this wave? Show your work! Recall that velocity
(v),
v = wavelength * frequency ( * f) and include proper units in your answer.

Test 6: With the slinky stretched the same amount as above, try to create a double
standing wave.
Problem 4: Using the same method, determine the frequency of this wave.
Our frequency would be two oscillations per second, because we counted ten
oscillations in five seconds. ten divided by five would give us two.
Question 9: How does the frequency compare to that of the single standing wave?
What do you think the frequency of a triple standing wave would be?

We noticed that the double standing wave goes faster than the single standing wave.
I think the the triple standing wave would have a frequency of around 2.4-2.5
oscillations per second.
Problem 5: What is the wavelength of the double standing wave. How does it
compare to that of the single standing wave? What do you think the wavelength of a
triple standing wave would be?
Our wavelength would be two because a double standing wave is a full wave and we
were standing two meters apart. If you stand in the same position, your wavelength
would get smaller and smaller as you increase the number of harmonics.
Problem 6: As above, calculate the velocity of the double standing wave. What do
you observe about the difference in velocities of the single and double waves?
The velocity of the double standing wave is faster than a single standing wave. I
think the more waves it has the faster it will travel.