Two identical waves are traveling toward each other in the same medium. One has a positive amplitude, meaning that its peaks only go upward, and the other wave has a negative amplitude, with peaks going downward. What will occur when the waves peak at the same place at the same time?

When waves overlap, their displacements add according to the principle of superposition. At the shared peak, one wave’s upward displacement is equal in size and opposite in direction to the other wave’s downward displacement, so they cancel. This is destructive interference, choice C.

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