Rankine's Investigation of Wave Velocity

Abstract

THE investigation relating, to the propagation of waves contained in chapter xv. of Maxwell's “Theory of Heat,” and based on that of Rankine (pp. 530-31 of “Collected Papers”) presents peculiar difficulty to most readers. “The kind of waves to which the investigation applies are those in which the motion of the parts of the substance is along straight lines parallel to the direction in which the wave is propagated, and the wave is defined to be one which is propagated with constant velocity, and the type of which is not altered during its propagation.”