CHAPTER 1 3 Continuous Systems; Waves 13.1 Introduction We have so far been considering particles, systems of particles, or rigid bodies. Now, we want to consider bodies (gases, liquids, or solids) that are not rigid, that is, bodies whose particles move (however slightly) with respect to one another The general study of such bodies is quite complex. However, one aspect of the continuous bodies is very important throughout physics—the ability to transmit wave motion, A disturbance on one part of the body can be transmitted by wave propagation throughout the body. ‘The simplest example of such phenomena is a vibrating string stretched under uniform tension between two fixed supports. As usual, the simple example repre- sents many of the important results needed to understand other physical examples, such as stretched membranes and waves in solids. Waves may be either transverse or longitudinal, An example of a longitudinal wave is the vibration of molecules along the direction of propagation of a wave moving in a solid rod. Longitudinal waves occur in fluids and solids and are of great importance in acoustics. Whereas both transverse and longitudinal waves may occur in solids, only longitudinal waves occur inside fluids, in which shearing forces are not possible. We have already considered (Chapter 12) both kinds of vibrations for a system of particles. A detailed study of the transverse vibrating string is important for sev- cral reasons. A study of a one-dimensional model of such string vibrations allows a mathematical solution with results that are applicable to more complex two- and three-dimensional problems, The modes of oscillation are similar. In partic- . the application of boundary conditions (fixed ends), which are of extreme ance in many areas of physics, is easiest in one-dimensional problems. ula impor 51z13.2. CONTINUOUS STRING AS A LIMITING CASE OF THE LOADED STRING 513 Boundary conditions play a role in the use of partial differential equations simi- lar to the role initial conditions play in ordinary differential equations using Newtonian or Lagrangian techniques. In this chapter, we extend the discussion of the vibrations of a loaded string presented in Chapter 12 by examining the consequences of allowing the num- ber of particles on the string to become infinite (while maintaining a constant linear mass density). In this way, we pass to the case of a continuous string. All the results of interest for such a string can be obtained by this limiting process— including the derivation of the important wave equation, one of the truly funda- mental equations of mathematical physics. The solutions of the wave equation are in general subject to limitations im- posed by certain physical restrictions peculiar to a given problem. These limita- tions frequently take the form of conditions on the solution that must be met at the extremes of the intervals of space and time that are of physical interest. We must therefore deal with a boundary-value problem involving a partial differen- tial equation. Indeed, such a description characterizes essentially the whole of what we call mathematical physics. ‘We confine ourselves here to the solution to a one-dimensional wave equa- tion. Such waves can describe a two-dimensional wave in two dimensions and can describe, for example, the motion of a vibrating string. The compression (or sound) waves that may be transmitted through an elastic medium, such as a gas, can also be approximated as one-dimensional waves if the medium is large enough that the edge effects are unimportant. In such a case, the condition of the medium is approximately the same at every point on a plane, and the prop- erties of the wave motion are then functions only of the distance along a line normal to the plane. Such a wave in an extended medium, called a plane wave, is mathematically identical to the one-dimensional waves treated here. 13.2 Continuous String as a Limiting Case of the Loaded String In the preceding chapter, we considered a set of equally spaced point masses suspended by a string. We now wish to allow the number of masses to become in- finite so that we have a continuous string. To do this, we must require that as n—-0o we simultaneously let the mass of each particle and the distance between each particle approach zero (m—0,d—>0) in such a manner that the ratio m/d remains constant, We note that m/d = p is just the linear mass density of the string, Thus, we have noo, d—+0, suchthat(n + 1)d=L (13.1) m0, d>0, such that 7 = p = constant514 13 / CONTINUOUS SYSTEMS; WAVES From Equation 12.154, we have a = Za sin(i") (13.2) We can now write re jd x Intl "+a "7 (13:3) where jd = x now specifies the distance along the continuous string. Thus, q,(¢) becomes a continuous function of the variables xand ¢: gst) = Ensosin(™) (13.4) or glx, t) = Lpeot sn() (13.5) In the case of a loaded string containing n particles, there are n degrees of freedom of motion and therefore n normal modes and n characteristic frequen- cies. Thus, in Equation 12.154 (or Equation 13.2) the sum is over the range r= 1 to r = n. But now the number of particles is infinite, so there is an infinite set of normal modes and the sum in Equations 13.4 and 13.5 runs from r= 1 to r=, ‘There are, then, infinitely many constants (the real and imaginary parts of the B,) that must be evaluated to completely specify the motion of the continuous string. This is exactly the situation encountered in representing some function as a Fourier series—the infinitely many constants are specified by certain inte- grals involving the original function (see Equations 3.91). We may view the situa: tion in another way: There are infinitely many arbitrary constants in the solution of the equation of motion, but there are also infinitely many initial conditions available for their evaluation, namely, the continuous functions q(x, 0) and (x; 0). The real and imaginary parts of the 8, can thus be obtained in terms of the initial conditions by a procedure analogous to that used in Section 12.9. Using B, = 4, + iv,, we have from Equation 13.5, (x0) = Lp, n(™) (13.6a) 4,0) = -~Loyr, on™) (13.6) Next, we multiply each of these equations by sin(s7rx/L) and integrate from x= 0 to x= L, We can make use of the trigonometric relation (13.7)