The general equation of a simple harmonic wave is
y=a sin 2π/λ (vt-x)
Differentiating equation (1) with respect to time
-dy /dt = 2πav/λ cos (vt-x)
Again differentiating equation (2) with respect to time
To find the value of compression, differentiate equation (1) with respect to x
To find the rate of change of compression with respect to distance, differentiate equation
Equation (7) represents the differential equation of wave motion.
The general differential equation of wave motion can be written as
Thus, knowing the value of K, the value of the wave velocity can be calculated.