Paper 3, Section II, A

Methods
Part IB, 2011

A uniform stretched string of length LL, density per unit length μ\mu and tension T=μc2T=\mu c^{2} is fixed at both ends. Its transverse displacement is given by y(x,t)y(x, t) for 0xL0 \leqslant x \leqslant L. The motion of the string is resisted by the surrounding medium with a resistive force per unit length of 2kμyt-2 k \mu \frac{\partial y}{\partial t}.

(i) Show that the equation of motion of the string is

2yt2+2kytc22yx2=0\frac{\partial^{2} y}{\partial t^{2}}+2 k \frac{\partial y}{\partial t}-c^{2} \frac{\partial^{2} y}{\partial x^{2}}=0

provided that the transverse motion can be regarded as small.

(ii) Suppose now that k=πcLk=\frac{\pi c}{L}. Find the displacement of the string for t0t \geqslant 0 given the initial conditions

y(x,0)=Asin(πxL) and yt(x,0)=0y(x, 0)=A \sin \left(\frac{\pi x}{L}\right) \quad \text { and } \quad \frac{\partial y}{\partial t}(x, 0)=0

(iii) Sketch the transverse displacement at x=L2x=\frac{L}{2} as a function of time for t0t \geqslant 0.