Q19 of 31 Page 388

Explain why (or how):

solids can support both longitudinal and transverse waves, but only longitudinal waves can propagate in gases, and

Solids can support both longitudinal and transverse waves, but only longitudinal waves can propagate in gases. This is because solids have both, the elasticity of volume and elasticity of shape, whereas gases have only the volume elasticity.


More from this chapter

All 31 →
19

Explain why (or how):

bats can ascertain distances, directions, nature, and sizes of the obstacles without any “eyes”,

 19

Explain why (or how):

a violin note and sitar note may have the same frequency, yet we can distinguish between the two notes,

 19

Explain why (or how):

the shape of a pulse gets distorted during propagation in a dispersive medium.

 20

A train, standing at the outer signal of a railway station blows a whistle of frequency 400 Hz in still air. (i) What is the frequency of the whistle for a platform observer when the train (a) approaches the platform with a speed of 10 m s–1, (b) recedes from the platform with a speed of 10 m s–1? (ii) What is the speed of sound in each case? The speed of sound in still air can be taken as 340 m s–1.