Wave investigation

1/16/11                   Wave investigation                                                                                                                                                                                                         Luka Luketic

How is the angle at which the ball (wave) hits the wall related to the angle at which it bounces back?

 The angle at which the ball hits the wall impacts the way the ball will bounce back because it determines the impact point, if thrown at a narrow angle (45 degrees) the ball will not bounce straight; it will bounce back on supplementary angle (135 degrees). On the other hand if the impact angle of ball is at a right angle (90 degrees) the ball will bounce straight back.

The reason why I believe the ball reacts the way it does upon impact with the wall is due to the fact that it receives rotation. If the ball is thrown at a narrow angle it will receive some rotation allowing it to bounce back the ball thrown at a broad angle will receive no rotation allowing it to bounce straight back.  

Does energy (speed or density of the ball) affect the wave’s path?

The energy at which a wave travels does affect the wave’s path. If a wave is traveling at a high speed its path will be straight without any turns or disruptions. I observed that the denser ball traveling at a higher speed will have a more determine path and will have higher rotation speed.  The lower density ball is traveling at a slower speed and bounces against the wall at decent speed but upon impact the wall absorbs a lot of energy causing it to bounce back in an undetermined path. 

What happens to a wave as it hits a surface it cannot pass through?

When a wave hits a surface it cannot pass through, the most common reaction after impact is that the wave bounces back; in case a wave bounces back several things can happen. First the frequency of the wave always increases; it is impossible for a wave to maintain its speed and frequency after impact, the wave will also end after a short period of time, due to a sudden decrease of speed and gain of frequency.  The decrease of speed of is due to the air resistance.

I observed that a low density material (or wave) may end upon impact because it absorbs all of the energy from the collision. Even though this is a rare case, which does not happen in a natural environment, that is why I observed this in a controlled environment in which there are no environmental factors impacting the wave.