💯 The Transmission and Reflection of Sound Waves Explained

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Transmission and Reflection
When any wave encounters a change in a medium, it will split into two smaller waves. One wave is reflected back into the medium from which it came. The other is transmitted into the new medium.

Different Media
If the two media are very similar, then most of the wave’s energy will be transmitted. Most of their energy will be reflected in the two media are very different. The total amount of energy does not change.

Question 3

A boat emits a sonar pulse towards the seabed and receives the echo after a time of t. Calculate the depth of the water if the pulse travels at a speed of v.

The pulse takes t/2 to reach the seabed and t/2 to return to the boat.
The depth of the water is, therefore vt/2. ↙

Question 5

When a wave strikes a medium, two new waves are created. If energy must be conserved, how can this be true?

Each of the new waves carries less energy than the incident wave. The total energy carried away by the two new waves equals the energy carried by the original wave. ↙