Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-a-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-2/section-b/b6/b/solution

Place the junction at and use the complex amplitude convention . With incident displacement wave amplitude , write
Here and are displacement wave reflection and transmission coefficients, and . The junction is assumed massless, with no externally applied transverse force, and both strings have the common equilibrium tension . Continuity of displacement and transverse force gives
Since , these become and . Solving,
A larger right-hand mechanical impedance produces a reflected displacement with reversed sign, as expected in the fixed-end limit . Equal mechanical impedances give and .

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