## anonymous 4 years ago Why is that we draw a longitudinal wave like a transverse wave?

1. anonymous

|dw:1333035994637:dw| how does this show a longitudinal wave?

2. mos1635

the diagramme shows the value of distanse from rest point |dw:1333038571923:dw|

3. anonymous

I think you are asking - Why do we have a sinusoidal graph of a wave that has particles vibrating longitudnally ? See, the sinusoidal graph is a displacement, Y Vs. Time, t graph. The general equation of such graphs are of the form $Y = Ymax. \cos (\omega.x - Kt )$

4. Mani_Jha

As mos1635 says, the sine form representation is not a picture of the wave. It shows the variation of the displacement of the wave with respect to time. It is a consequence of the fact that waves are simple harmonic motions, and thus can be represented by harmonic functions(sine or cosine).

5. Mani_Jha

Both latitudinal and longitudinal wave functions can be represented thus. But it does not give the 'picture' of the wave(Though for waves on a string, it co-incidentally does). Similarly the displacement-time graph of a particle does not show the actual path taken by a particle. It shows the relationship between distance covered and time taken, and how that relationship varies with time.