Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-methods-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2021/7/iv/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematical methods II course of the University of Oxford 2021 7 iv a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Put the fixed end at , with the mechanical string occupying . Let be the incident peak amplitude, set and , and take when the incident front first reaches the end. The symmetric triangular pulse in the source has initial profile , whereThe fixed-end reflection of a triangular pulse follows from the Dirichlet boundary condition and the superposition principle, giving the reflected displacementThe minus sign is the inversion on reflection. At , the resulting profile is zero outside and consists of the straight segments throughThe segment beside the wall is steeper because incident and inverted reflected pulses overlap there.
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