Base your answers on the diagram below which represents a wave traveling to the right along an elastic medium

What is the amplitude of the wave?

Question

Base your answers on the diagram below which represents a wave traveling to the right along an elastic medium

What is the amplitude of the wave?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To begin, let's identify what the question is asking: the amplitude of the wave, which is the maximum displacement from the equilibrium (dashed) line.

Option considered: 0.25 m. In many wave diagrams, the vertical scale given (here, a total vertical crest-to-trough distance of 0.5 m) helps determine amplitude. The amplitude is half of the total vertical displacement between the highest point (crest) and the lowest point (trough).

Applying that rule to the diagram: if the crest reaches 0.25 m above the equilibrium line and the trough reaches 0.25 m below it, then the total crest-to-trough separation is 0.50 m, and the amplitude is 0.25 m. Therefore, the maximum distance the particle moves from equilibrium is 0.25 m, which corresponds to the stated option.

Why this reasoning makes sense: amplitude is defined as the magnitude of displacement from equilibrium, not the distance between crest and trough. Halving the crest-to-trough measurement yields the amplitude.

Why other potential interpretations would be incorrect here: if one assumed the crest or trough were at ±0.5 m from equilibrium, that would imply a total crest-to-trough of 1.0 m, which contradicts the diagram’s indicated total vertical extent of 0.5 m. If one confused amplitude with peak-to-peak value, one would report 0.5 m, not 0.25 m. The correct interpretation follows from the standard definition of amplitude as half the peak-to-peak displacement.

Physics 1 Hon - Bowles - p06/p07 P10.2 Waves & Sound MC Practice

Base your answers on the diagram below which represents a wave traveling to the right along an elastic medium What is the amplitude of the wave?

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