18. Waves & Sound

Destructive interference occurs where two overlapping waves are 1/2 wavelength or 180° out of phase. Explain why 180° is equivalent to 1/2 wavelength.

Two speakers that are 15.0 m apart produce in-phase sound waves of frequency 250.0 Hz in a room where the speed of sound is 340.0 m/s. A woman starts out at the midpoint between the two speakers. The room's walls and ceiling are covered with absorbers to eliminate reflections, and she listens with only one ear for best precision. What does she hear: constructive or destructive interference? Why?

Small speakers A and B are driven in phase at 725 Hz by the same audio oscillator. Both speakers start out 4.50 m from the listener, but speaker A is slowly moved away (Fig. E16.34)<IMAGE>. If A is moved even farther away than in part (a), at what distance d will the speakers next produce destructive interference at the listener’s location?

Small speakers A and B are driven in phase at 725 Hz by the same audio oscillator. Both speakers start out 4.50 m from the listener, but speaker A is slowly moved away (Fig. E16.34). At what distance d will the sound from the speakers first produce destructive interference at the listener's location?

<Image>

The three identical loudspeakers in FIGURE P17.71 play a 170 Hz tone in a room where the speed of sound is 340 m/s. You are standing 4.0 m in front of the middle speaker. At this point, the amplitude of the wave from each speaker is a. How far must speaker 2 be moved to the left to produce a maximum amplitude at the point where you are standing?

Two loudspeakers emit sound waves along the x-axis. The sound has maximum intensity when the speakers are 20 cm apart. The sound intensity decreases as the distance between the speakers is increased, reaching zero at a separation of 60 cm. What is the wavelength of the sound?

(I) The two pulses shown in Fig. 15–37 are moving toward each other. Sketch the shape of the string at the moment they directly overlap.

The three identical loudspeakers in FIGURE P17.71 play a 170 Hz tone in a room where the speed of sound is 340 m/s. You are standing 4.0 m in front of the middle speaker. At this point, the amplitude of the wave from each speaker is a. When the amplitude is maximum, by what factor is the sound intensity greater than the sound intensity from a single speaker?

Two small stereo speakers A and B that are 1.40 m apart are sending out sound of wavelength 34 cm in all directions and all in phase. A person at point P starts out equidistant from both speakers and walks so that he is always 1.50 m from speaker B (Fig. E35.1). For what values of x will the sound this person hears be cancelled? Limit your solution to the cases where x ≤ 1.50 m.

The two sources of sound in Fig. 16–15 face each other and emit sounds of equal amplitude and equal frequency (305 Hz) but 180° out of phase. For what minimum separation of the two speakers will there be some point at which complete destructive interference occurs? (Assume T = 20°C .)

Two speakers, emitting identical sound waves of wavelength 2.0 m in phase with each other, and an observer are located as shown in Fig. E35.5. At the observer's location, what is the path difference for waves from the two speakers?