* Waves are Superpositioned: When two waves meet, they don't collide and disappear. Instead, they superpose – they combine their amplitudes at each point in space.
* Phase Matters: The way the waves combine depends on whether their crests and troughs align (in phase) or are offset (out of phase).
Here are the possibilities:
* In Phase: If the waves are in phase (crests align with crests, troughs align with troughs), their amplitudes add directly. The combined amplitude would be A + B.
* Completely Out of Phase: If the waves are completely out of phase (crest aligns with trough), their amplitudes subtract. The combined amplitude would be A - B (or B - A, whichever is positive).
* Partially Out of Phase: If the waves are partially out of phase, the combined amplitude will be somewhere between the in-phase and out-of-phase cases. You'd need to know the specific phase difference to calculate the exact combined amplitude.
Important Note: This assumes the waves have the same frequency. If the frequencies are different, the superposition will be more complex and result in a changing combined amplitude.
