Pulse Reflection
Consider a pulse moving through a medium - perhaps through a rope or a slinky. When the pulse reaches the end of that medium, what happens to it depends on whether the medium is fixed in space or free to move at its end. For example, if the pulse is moving through a rope and the end of the rope is held firmly by a person, then it is said that the pulse is approaching a fixed end. On the other hand, if the end of the rope is fixed to a stick such that it is free to move up or down along the stick when the pulse reaches its end, then it is said that the pulse is approaching a free end.
Read more about this topic: Pulse (physics)
Famous quotes containing the words pulse and/or reflection:
“I drink the air before me, and return
Or ere your pulse twice beat.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It seems certain, that though a man, in a flush of humour, after intense reflection on the many contradictions and imperfections of human reason, may entirely renounce all belief and opinion, it is impossible for him to persevere in this total scepticism, or make it appear in his conduct for a few hours.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)