Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2016/11/d/solution

For either normal mode, let and write its contribution as . The product-to-sum identity gives
This standing wave is a superposition of two travelling waves of equal amplitude , moving oppositely with phase velocity . Their cancellation at enforces the fixed-end boundary conditions at every time.

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