Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/10/b/iii/solution

At the return encounter, transmission from light to heavy multiplies the amplitude by , giving a backward heavy-string pulse of amplitude . Its speed halves, so its width returns to . Reflection within the light segment multiplies the incoming amplitude by , giving a right-going pulse of amplitude and width . The earlier reflected pulse is already farther along the heavy string.
The sketches show these as separate pulses in the short-pulse regime . For longer pulses the corresponding components overlap and must be superposed rather than interpreted as isolated visible humps.

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