What is a stationary wave?
A stationary wave forms when there are two waves of equal frequency (or wavelength) travelling in opposite directions, passing through one another. Interference occurs, with constructive interference at antinodes and destructive interference at nodes. That is to say, there is maximum displacement at antinodes and no displacement at nodes. Particles either side of the nodes are in antiphase (between two nodes in phase). Amplitude may vary between nodes.
SP
Related Physics A Level answers
All answers ▸You are in a vacuum chamber, and you drop a feather and a bowling ball (initially at rest) from a great height. Which will hit the ground first?
On the line of centres between the Earth and the Moon, there is a point where the net gravitational force is zero. Given that the distance between the two is 385,000 km, and that the Earth has a mass 81x that of the Moon, how far is this point from Earth?
A box is pulled with a rope at 26° to the horizontal and a tension of 120N. What is the work done in pulling it 5 metres?
Bismuth-208, which has an atomic mass of 208u and 83 protons in the nucleus, decays through the emission of 2 alpha particles and a beta-positive particle. What isotope results from this decay?