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AP Physics 2
14.3 Boundary Behavior of Waves and Polarization
14.2 Periodic Waves
IntermediateMCQConceptual22.6k
A top-down schematic of a rectangular water tank divided vertically into two equal sections by a vertical dashed boundary line. The left section is labeled Deep Water and the right section is labeled Shallow Water. On the far left edge of the tank, a vertical rectangle represents a wave generator paddle. Three evenly spaced parallel vertical solid line segments are drawn in the deep water section to represent crests. A horizontal arrow labeled v_deep points from left to right toward the boundary line. The shallow water section on the right contains no line segments. No other labels, lines, text, or axes appear.
Top-down view of periodic waves in a ripple tank approaching a boundary.
A mechanical wave generator creates continuous, periodic surface waves in a ripple tank containing water. The waves travel through a deep-water region with a speed \(v_{\text{deep}}\), then cross a straight boundary into a shallow-water region where the wave speed is \(v_{\text{shallow}}\), such that \(v_{\text{shallow}} < v_{\text{deep}}\). Which of the following correctly describes how the wavelength of the waves in the shallow water compares to their wavelength in the deep water, and provides the correct physical justification?

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