What are the discrepancy in phase velocity concept which leads to conceptualization of group velocity?
Answers
Explanation:
Frequency dispersion in groups of gravity waves on the surface of deep water. The red square moves with the phase velocity, and the green circles propagate with the group velocity. In this deep-water case, the phase velocity is twice the group velocity. The red square overtakes two green circles when moving from the left to the right of the figure.
New waves seem to emerge at the back of a wave group, grow in amplitude until they are at the center of the group, and vanish at the wave group front.
For surface gravity waves, the water particle velocities are much smaller than the phase velocity, in most cases.
Propagation of a wave packet demonstrating a phase velocity greater than the group velocity without dispersion.
This shows a wave with the group velocity and phase velocity going in different directions.[1] The group velocity is positive (i.e., the envelope of the wave moves rightward), while the phase velocity is negative (i.e., the peaks and troughs move leftward).
The group velocity of a wave is the velocity with which the overall envelope shape of the wave's amplitudes—known as the modulation or envelope of the wave—propagates through space.
For example, if a stone is thrown into the middle of a very still pond, a circular pattern of waves with a quiescent center appears in the water, also known as a capillary wave. The expanding ring of waves is the wave group, within which one can discern individual wavelets of differing wavelengths traveling at different speeds. The shorter waves travel faster than the group as a whole, but their amplitudes diminish as they approach the leading edge of the group. The longer waves travel more slowly, and their amplitudes diminish as they emerge from the trailing boundary of the group.