Thread: Drawing a displacement/time wave

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
Hi
I need help on how to draw Displacement/time waves. I am considering this question:
If a wave is travelling from left to right, draw a diagram of what the wave would look like 10ms later. The amplitude is 0.02 and wavelength is 0.2 m respectively.

2. Relevant equations
Speed = distance/time

3. The attempt at a solution
I can clearly work out the distance which is 0.3m. But I am not sure of the amplitude, shape and wavelength. Can someone please comment?

I find it strange that you don't have the speed of the wave but managed to get the distance covered within 10 ms...

What you basically need to draw is a sine curve starting at the distance covered on the x axis, going towards the left.

The wavelength is measured on the x-axis and consists of a complete cycle of the sine graph.

The amplitude indicates the maximum and minimum points of the graph. Here, the maximum is 0.02 m and the minimum is -0.02 m.

Sorry. the speed wasn't included in the question (Thats by me). So, what happens if the furthest point on the sine curve is 0.3m?

Yes, as the wavelength is 0.2 m, it means you'll have a cycle and a half drawn.

The resulting graph will be quite similar to the graph of y = 0.02sin(x) between 0 and 0.3 m, with two maxima at 0.5 and 2.5 m and a minimum at 1.5.

Thanks. That makes more sense.