ESS227
Prof. Jin-Yi Yu
A Group of Waves with Different Wavenumbers
•In cases where several waves add
together to form a single wave shape (called the envelope), each
individual wave component has its own wavenumber and
phase speed.
•For waves in which the
phase speed varies with k, the various sinusoidal components
of a disturbance originating at a given location are at a later time found
in different places. Such waves are dispersive.
•For nondispersive
waves, their phase speeds that are independent of the wave number.
