A train, standing in a station-yard, blows a whistle of frequency 400 Hz in still air. The wind starts blowing in the direction from the yard to the station with at a speed of 10 m s-1. What are the frequency, wavelength, and speed of sound for an observer standing on the station's platform? Is the situation exactly identical to the case when the air is still and the observer runs towards the yard at a speed of 10 m s-1? The speed of sound in still air can be taken as 340 m s-1.
For the stationary observer: 400 Hz; 0.875 m; 350 m/s
For the running observer: Not exactly identical
For the stationary observer:
Frequency of the sound produced by the whistle, V = 400 Hz
Speed of sound = 340 m/s
Velocity of the wind, v = 10 m/s
As there is no relative motion between the source and the observer, the frequency of the sound heard by the observer will be the same as that produced by the source, i.e., 400 Hz.
The wind is blowing toward the observer. Hence, the effective speed of the sound increases by 10 units, i.e.,
Effective speed of the sound, ve = 340 + 10 = 350 m/s
The wavelength (λ) of the sound heard by the observer is given by the relation:
λ = ve / V = 350 / 400 = 0.875 m
For the running observer:
Velocity of the observer, vo = 10 m/s
The observer is moving toward the source. As a result of the relative motions of the source and the observer, there is a change in frequency (v').
This is given by the relation:
v' = (v+vo / v ) V
= (340+10 / 340) x 400 = 411.76 Hz
Since the air is still, the effective speed of sound = 340 + 0 = 340 m/s
The source is at rest. Hence, the wavelength of the sound will not change, i.e., λ remains 0.875 m.
Hence, the given two situations are not exactly identical.
A transverse harmonic wave on a string is described by
y(x,t) = 3.0 sin [36t + 0.018x + π /4]
Where x and y are in cm and t in s. The positive direction of x is from left to right.
(a) Is this a travelling wave or a stationary wave? If it is travelling, what are the speed and direction of its propagation?
(b) What are its amplitude and frequency?
(c) What is the initial phase at the origin?
(d) What is the least distance between two successive crests in the wave?
Use the formula v = √ γP/ρ to explain why the speed of sound in air (a) is independent of pressure, (b) increases with temperature, (c) increases with humidity.
A narrow sound pulse (for example, a short pip by a whistle) is sent across a medium.
(a) Does the pulse have a definite (i) frequency, (ii) wavelength, (iii) speed of propagation?
(b) If the pulse rate is 1 after every 20 s, (that is the whistle is blown for a split of second after every 20 s), is the frequency of the note produced by the whistle equal to or 0.05 Hz?
A stone dropped from the top of a tower of height 300 m high splashes into the water of a pond near the base of the tower. When is the splash heard at the top given that the speed of sound in air is 340 m s-1? (g= 9.8 m s-2)
A travelling harmonic wave on a string is described by
y(x,t) = 7.5sin [0.0050x + 12t + π/4]
(a) What are the displacement and velocity of oscillation of a point at x = 1 cm, and t = 1 s? Is this velocity equal to the velocity of wave propagation?
(b) Locate the points of the string which have the same transverse displacements and velocity as the x = 1 cm point at t = 2 s, 5 s and 11 s.
A bat emits ultrasonic sound of frequency 1000 kHz in air. If the sound meets a water surface, what is the wavelength of (a) the reflected sound, (b) the transmitted sound? Speed of sound in air is 340 m s-1 and in water 1486 m s-1.
A steel wire has a length of 12.0 m and a mass of 2.10 kg. What should be the tension in the wire so that speed of a transverse wave on the wire equals the speed of sound in dry air at 20 °C = 343 m s-1.
A pipe 20 cm long is closed at one end. Which harmonic mode of the pipe is resonantly excited by a 430 Hz source? Will the same source be in resonance with the pipe if both ends are open? (Speed of sound in air is 340 m s-1).
For the travelling harmonic wave
y (x, t) = 2.0 cos 2π (10t - 0.0080 x + 0.35)
Where x and y are in cm and t in s. Calculate the phase difference between oscillatory motion of two points separated by a distance of
(a) 4 m,
(b) 0.5 m,
(c) λ / 2 ,
(d) 3λ / 4
Some of the most profound statements on the nature of science have come from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time. What do you think did Einstein mean when he said : “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible”?
The sign of work done by a force on a body is important to understand. State carefully if the following quantities are positive or negative:
(a) work done by a man in lifting a bucket out of a well by means of a rope tied to the bucket.
(b) work done by gravitational force in the above case,
(c) work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane,
(d) work done by an applied force on a body moving on a rough horizontal plane with uniform velocity,
(e) work done by the resistive force of air on a vibrating pendulum in bringing it to rest.
A geyser heats water flowing at the rate of 3.0 litres per minute from 27 °C to 77 °C. If the geyser operates on a gas burner, what is the rate of consumption of the fuel if its heat of combustion is 4.0 x 104 J/g?
Estimate the fraction of molecular volume to the actual volume occupied by oxygen gas at STP. Take the diameter of an oxygen molecule to be 3Å.
A person trying to lose weight (dieter) lifts a 10 kg mass, one thousand times, to a height of 0.5 m each time. Assume that the potential energy lost each time she lowers the mass is dissipated. (a) How much work does she do against the gravitational force? (b) Fat supplies 3.8 x 107 J of energy per kilogram which is converted to mechanical energy with a 20% efficiency rate. How much fat will the dieter use up?
Rain is falling vertically with a speed of 30 m s–1. A woman rides a bicycle with a speed of 10 m s–1 in the north to south direction. What is the direction in which she should hold her umbrella?
The mass of a box measured by a grocer's balance is 2.300 kg. Two gold pieces of masses 20.15 g and 20.17 g are added to the box. What is
(a) the total mass of the box,
(b) the difference in the masses of the pieces to correct significant figures?
Two trains A and B of length 400 m each are moving on two parallel tracks with a uniform speed of 72 km h–1 in the same direction, with A ahead of B. The driver of B decides to overtake A and accelerates by 1 m/s2. If after 50 s, the guard of B just brushes past the driver of A, what was the original distance between them?
Three girls skating on a circular ice ground of radius 200 m start from a point P on the edge of the ground and reach a point Q diametrically opposite to P following different paths as shown in Fig. 4.20. What is the magnitude of the displacement vector for each? For which girl is this equal to the actual length of the path skated?
Figure 3.25 gives a speed-time graph of a particle in motion along a constant direction. Three equal intervals of time are shown. In which interval is the average acceleration greatest in magnitude? In which interval is the average speed greatest? Choosing the positive direction as the constant direction of motion, give the signs of v and a in the three intervals. What are the accelerations at the points A, B, C and D?
On a long horizontally moving belt (Fig. 3.26), a child runs to and fro with a speed 9 km h-1 (with respect to the belt) between his father and mother located 50 m apart on the moving belt. The belt moves with a speed of 4 km h-1. For an observer on a stationary platform outside, what is the
(a) speed of the child running in the direction of motion of the belt ?.
(b) speed of the child running opposite to the direction of motion of the belt ?
(c) time taken by the child in (a) and (b) ? Which of the answers alter if motion is viewed by one of the parents?
(Figure 3.26)
The piston in the cylinder head of a locomotive has a stroke (twice the amplitude) of 1.0 m. If the piston moves with simple harmonic motion with an angular frequency of 200 rad/min, what is its maximum speed?
A body is initially at rest. It undergoes one-dimensional motion with constant acceleration. The power delivered to it at time t is proportional to
(i) t½ (ii) t (iii) t3/2 (iv) t2
A monkey of mass 40 kg climbs on a rope (Fig. 5.20) which can stand a maximum tension of 600 N. In which of the following cases will the rope break: the monkey
(a) climbs up with an acceleration of 6 m s-2
(b) climbs down with an acceleration of 4 m s-2
(c) climbs up with a uniform speed of 5 m s-1
(d) falls down the rope nearly freely under gravity?
(Ignore the mass of the rope).