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Whip
Purpose
To illustrate transverse wave motion and how to crack a whip to create a sonic boom.
Equipment
Whip
Images
Description
A wave started down the whip increases its velocity as the whip decreases in diameter toward the tip. By the time the wave reaches the tip of the whip, the velocity of the whip motion can become greater than the speed of sound in air.The "cracking" of a whip is believed by many physicists to be a result of the sonic boom thus created
References
Jearl Walker, Th Flying Circus of Physics WITH ANSWERS, Section 1.77 Whip Crack, and references therein.
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See pagesg1. simple harmonic motion
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See pagesg2. resonance & coupled oscillations
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See pagesg3. mechanical waves one dimensional
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See pagesg4. mechanical waves two dimensional
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See pagesg1. simple harmonic motion
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See pagesg2. resonance & coupled oscillations
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See pagesg3. mechanical waves one dimensional
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See pagesg4. mechanical waves two dimensional