Class 11 Physics - Chapter Waves NCERT Solutions | A pipe 20 cm long is closed at one end.

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.

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

A SONAR system fixed in a submarine operates at a frequency 40.0 kHz. An enemy submarine moves towards the SONAR with a speed of 360 km h^-1. What is the frequency of sound reflected by the submarine? Take the speed of sound in water to be 1450 m s^-1.

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.

Which of the following is the most precise device for measuring length:

(a) a vernier callipers with 20 divisions on the sliding scale

(b) a screw gauge of pitch 1 mm and 100 divisions on the circular scale

(c) an optical instrument that can measure length to within a wavelength of light ?

A drunkard walking in a narrow lane takes 5 steps forward and 3 steps backward, followed again by 5 steps forward and 3 steps backward, and so on. Each step is 1 m long and requires 1 s. Plot the x-t graph of his motion. Determine graphically and otherwise how long the drunkard takes to fall in a pit 13 m away from the start.

A molecule in a gas container hits a horizontal wall with speed 200 ms^-1 and angle 30° with the normal, and rebounds with the same speed. Is momentum conserved in the collision? Is the collision elastic or inelastic?

It is a well known fact that during a total solar eclipse the disk of the moon almost completely covers the disk of the Sun. From this fact and from the information you can gather from examples 2.3 and 2.4, determine the approximate diameter of the moon.

Figures 14.29 correspond to two circular motions. The radius of the circle, the period of revolution, the initial position, and the sense of revolution (i.e. clockwise or anti-clockwise) are indicated on each figure.

Obtain the corresponding simple harmonic motions of the x-projection of the radius vector of the revolving particle P, in each case.

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?

The shells of crabs found around a particular coastal location in Japan seem mostly to resemble the legendary face of a Samurai. Given below are two explanations of this observed fact. Which of these strikes you as a scientific explanation ?

(a) A tragic sea accident several centuries ago drowned a young Samurai. As a tribute to his bravery, nature through its inscrutable ways immortalised his face by imprinting it on the crab shells in that area.

(b) After the sea tragedy, fishermen in that area, in a gesture of honour to their dead hero, let free any crab shell caught by them which accidentally had a shape resembling the face of a Samurai. Consequently, the particular shape of the crab shell survived longer and therefore in course of time the shape was genetically propagated. This is an example of evolution by artificial selection.

[Note : This interesting illustration taken from Carl Sagan’s ‘The Cosmos’ highlights the fact that often strange and inexplicable facts which on the first sight appear ‘supernatural’ actually turn out to have simple scientific explanations. Try to think out other examples of this kind].

Write in about 1000 words a fiction piece based on your speculation on the science and technology of the twenty-second century.

The blades of a windmill sweep out a circle of area A. (a) If the wind flows at a velocity v perpendicular to the circle, what is the mass of the air passing through it in time t?(b) What is the kinetic energy of the air? (c) Assume that the windmill converts 25% of the wind's energy into electrical energy, and that A = 30 m², v = 36 km/h and the density of air is 1.2 kg m^-3. What is the electrical power produced?

A SONAR (sound navigation and ranging) uses ultrasonic waves to detect and locate objects under water. In a submarine equipped with a SONAR the time delay between generation of a probe wave and the reception of its echo after reflection from an enemy submarine is found to be 77.0 s. What is the distance of the enemy submarine? (Speed of sound in water = 1450 m s^-1).