Question: for the following questions assume all waves propagate through nondispersive...
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For the following questions, assume all waves propagate
through non-dispersive media where any absorption
is negligible. Recall that from our analysis of oscillations
in a wave we determined that the intensity I of a wave is
proportional to the square of the amplitude A, that is I = c A2,
where c is a constant.
(a) Consider a two-dimensional wave, like water ripples on a
pool, propagating away from its source equally
on all directions. How does the amplitude of the wave change
with the distance form the source?
(b) Consider now a three-dimensional wave, like a sound wave,
propagating away from its source equally
in all directions. How does the amplitude of the wave change
with distance from the source?
(c) What fundamental physical principle underlies the answers
from the previous points?
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