Discussion Questions: Transverse Waves
- Imagine you hold one end of a slinky or a coiled spring and a friend holds the other end to maintain some tension. You move your hand quickly towards your friend to create a disturbance which moves towards him along the slinky. Now imagine moving your hand quickly perpendicular to the slinky. Finally imagine creating a disturbance that is partly along the slinky and partly perpendicular (moving your hand diagonally). What would happen to this disturbance if the transverse part and the longitudinal part traveled at different speeds?
