Wave Equation
The wave equation for the ideal vibrating string may be written as
where we define the following notation:
 |
As discussed in Chapter 1, the wave equation in this form can be interpreted as a statement of Newton's second law,
; the restoring
force is balanced at all times by the inertial force per unit length
of the string which is equal to mass density (mass per unit length)
times transverse acceleration, i.e.,
. See Appendix B
for a review of basic physical concepts. The wave equation is derived
in some detail in §B.6.
Next Section:
Wave Equation Applications
Previous Section:
Recent Research Modeling the Leslie
