4.I.5B

Methods
Part IB, 2007

Show that the general solution of the wave equation

2yt2=c22yx2\frac{\partial^{2} y}{\partial t^{2}}=c^{2} \frac{\partial^{2} y}{\partial x^{2}}

where cc is a constant, is

y=f(x+ct)+g(xct),y=f(x+c t)+g(x-c t),

where ff and gg are twice differentiable functions. Briefly discuss the physical interpretation of this solution.

Calculate y(x,t)y(x, t) subject to the initial conditions

y(x,0)=0 and yt(x,0)=ψ(x)y(x, 0)=0 \quad \text { and } \quad \frac{\partial y}{\partial t}(x, 0)=\psi(x)