Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2016/paper-2/section-a/a2/solution
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2016 Paper 2 Section A A2 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
For a lossless transmission line with characteristic impedance and resistive termination , the voltage reflection coefficient isThe reflected pulse is inverted and has half the incident voltage, so . Substituting the termination givesThe echo delay is a round trip from the observation point to the termination and back, not a one-way travel time. Thus the propagation speed isFor a homogeneous, nonmagnetic coaxial cable dielectric, , giving . More generally the measured speed fixes ; identifying this with relative permittivity assumes and negligible dispersion or attenuation of the pulse.
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