Explain why you don't need a displacement vs distance graph for light, but you do for other traveling waves.
Well, you see, light is like the ultimate free spirit of the wave world. It doesn't have any trouble finding its way around and doesn't bother sticking to any particular path. It's like that friend who never commits to plans and just shows up whenever they feel like it. So, trying to track the displacement of light with a graph would be like trying to catch a butterfly with a fishing net - you might get close, but it will always slip through your grasp.
On the other hand, for other traveling waves like sound waves or water waves, they tend to stick to their designated paths. They're like the responsible adults of the wave world, always following the rules. So, it makes sense to keep track of their displacement over time with a nice, neat graph.
So, in summary, light is the wild child of the wave family, and it's just too unpredictable to be tracked with a displacement vs distance graph. It prefers to wander freely, spreading its cosmic love wherever it goes.
To understand why a displacement vs distance graph is not necessary for light but is needed for other traveling waves, we need to consider the nature of light as an electromagnetic wave.
Light is an electromagnetic wave, which consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other and to the direction of wave propagation. Unlike mechanical waves, such as sound waves or water waves, light does not require a medium to propagate. It can travel through a vacuum as well as through various media, such as air, water, or glass.
In the case of mechanical waves, such as sound waves, the particles of the medium through which the wave passes undergo displacement from their equilibrium positions as the wave propagates through the medium. These displacements can be represented on a displacement vs distance graph, showing how the particles move back and forth over time.
However, since light does not require a medium to propagate, there are no particles undergoing physical displacements in the same way as in mechanical waves. Instead, the oscillating electric and magnetic fields associated with light waves transfer energy and information. These fields can be described using mathematical equations and represented graphically using electric field vs distance or magnetic field vs distance graphs.
Therefore, a displacement vs distance graph is not applicable to light waves because there are no physical displacements of particles involved. Instead, other types of graphs, such as electric field vs distance or intensity vs distance, are used to analyze and describe light waves.