Suppose two identical transverse wave pulses are travelling towards each other on a string where one is inverted with respect to the other. When they meet, destructive interference will occur and the string will be straight for a certain instant of time. Hence, for that instant, it will appear to have no energy. What then happens to the energy carried by the two pulses?
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$\begingroup$ Or is it the reverse, the kinetic energy is gone and it's all stored as potential energy in the tension of the string? $\endgroup$– PhysicsDaveSep 1, 2018 at 1:23
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1 Answer
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Similar situation to water waves. In the 1700 Huygens also lined up a bunch of billiard balls in contact and struck both ends at the same time (like croquette[sp?]) and the balls at either end both move.
My guess is the energy is stored in the elasticity of the material.
answered Sep 1, 2018 at 1:27