Question:
Find the possible plane wave solutions for the two-dimensional wave equation
Also find the possible standing wave solutions. Assume homogeneous Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions on some rectangle 0 , 0 . What is the frequency?
Repeat for the generalized equation
Answer:
Plane wave solutions are solutions of the form
Plugging it into the wave equation produces so the propagation speed is . The wave shape,
the function , is completely arbitrary.
These are propagating two-dimensional waves. To make this point, you can show a picture of the wave at both time zero and at a time 0, assuming an arbitrary wave shape
There is an alternate solution in which the wave speed is completely arbitrary but the wave shape is not. Since this solution is not bounded, you can argue that it is not what people usually understand to be a wave. You might compare its wave shape with waves on the beach, for example.
If you plug the general expression for a plane wave into the generalized wave equation, things change. You find an ordinary differential equation for the wave shape. You find that that equation has only finite solutions if
The standing wave solutions of interest are solutions of the form
Use a sketch at different times to show that the shape of the wave does not change. Only the amplitude changes. The wave does not move; for example, draw attention to the locations where 0.
If you plug it in, for the standard wave equation you find where . The ratio is therefore equal to the wave speed in magnitude.
For the generalized wave equation, there are only standing wave solutions if the wave number is large enough. In particular you find that if , then is required.