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Misr
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Why do transverse waves propagate through solids , while logitudinal waves can only propagate through fluids??
I'm still confused about this
I'm still confused about this
This is such a great answer but I need an answer to the original questions of the thread tooImagine some people scattered in a square and there is a rumour being spread around. The closer they are together the faster the rumour spreads.
The closer the atoms are in a solid the quicker they interact with each other and the faster the longitudinal wave travels.
I thought that we've established the original question was flawed. Longitudinal waves can travel through solids.Misr said:This is such a great answer but I need an answer to the original questions of the thread too
Actually, supercooled helium-3 does support shear waves: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v400/n6743/abs/400431a0.htmlEdi said:So a superfluid, like super cooled helium, would not allow transverse waves to propagate?
In that case - what would happen if I dropped something in the superfluid .. a process with would, in normal fluids, generate transverse waves on the surface?
Any inviscid fluid that is of sufficiently high temperature that quantum effects can be neglected. Sadly, these do not exist. However, most fluids are good approximations to inviscid fluids.Edi said:In that case - when and what does NOT support transverse waves?
I don't understand.We are going to study fluids the next chapter..I think I have to wait a bit because I don't understand this :(Inviscid fluids do not support shear stress and hence transverse waves cannot propagate through inviscid fluids. However, in general, both transverse and longitudinal waves can propagate through both fluids and solids
This is elasticity I supposeWhen you try to bend or "parallelogram" a metal box (within reason), it wants to spring back. Try to deform a box of fluid, it's supposed to flow.
sophiecentaur said:With a fluid, there is no 'restoring force' for lateral displacements - so you can't get a wave to propagate.
but longitudinal waves can propagate through fluids so what are you trying to explain :(With a fluid, there is no 'restoring force' for lateral displacements - so you can't get a wave to propagate.
Misr said:Yes you are right.The speed of sound waves is even greater in solids..but I don't know why
Misr said:but longitudinal waves can propagate through fluids so what are you trying to explain :(
what does this indicate?Indicates that it can resist the longitudinal waves,while can't resist transverse waves,so only longitudinal waves can propagate through??you will feel a force pulling your hand back toward the spring
can't imagine this :(A fluid gas (ideal) has no "springs involved. There will be no lateral force at all. The net force on a small volume of gas will be due to an imbalance in the number of molecules arriving from one side an the other. I.e. the pressure. Gas pressure doesn't work sideways
Think of it this way. If you take one of the simplest examples of propagating waves, say a wave traveling down a tensioned string, the oscillation only happens because the string "fights" against the up and down motion. The string is under tension, so it wants to return to center. If the string were under basically no tension, you could lift up a section and it would just flop down again limply -- there would be no propagating wave.Misr said:... it can resist the longitudinal waves,while can't resist transverse waves,so only longitudinal waves can propagate through??
can't imagine this :(
Misr said:what does this indicate?Indicates that it can resist the longitudinal waves,while can't resist transverse waves,so only longitudinal waves can propagate through??
Longitudinal waves are characterized by particle oscillations that are parallel to the direction of wave propagation, while transverse waves have particle oscillations that are perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation.
Longitudinal waves propagate through the compression and rarefaction of particles in the medium, while transverse waves propagate through the displacement of particles perpendicular to the direction of wave travel.
Sound waves, pressure waves, and seismic P-waves are all examples of longitudinal waves.
Electromagnetic waves, such as light and radio waves, as well as seismic S-waves are all examples of transverse waves.
Yes, some waves, such as water waves, can exhibit both longitudinal and transverse characteristics. The overall wave motion is a combination of these two types of oscillations.