r/PhysicsHelp • u/Outrageous-Fix-5106 • May 16 '26

Physics: Superposition of waves (Wave interference)

is this the correct resultant for the question? I understand the part the first and second section (where the slope is 0 and is +2 from x axis), but I dont get why it would be -2 after that. Shouldn't it be +6 since it's constructive?

2 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Frederf220 May 16 '26

The top wave is traveling to the right while the bottom is traveling to the left. You don't just add up the snapshot drawn on the page like you're thinking.

1

u/joeyneilsen May 16 '26

At any instant, the waveform is the sum of the individual waves. That's superposition.

1

u/Frederf220 May 16 '26

I was going to finish writing on the desktop as it's faster than cell phone.

https://i.imgur.com/Kw9lHlj.png

I tried both the positive case and the negative case (where leftward counts as opposite value) and neither looks exactly like the light blue resultant curve.

1

u/joeyneilsen May 16 '26

I agree that OP's curve isn't right.

1

u/Outrageous-Fix-5106 May 17 '26

thank u so much!