Given information
Explanation:
You'll receive a range of waves at various frequencies if you strike a metal rod on the end. Although longitudinal waves going down the length of the rod have the greatest amplitude, you'll also activate a barrage of other wave modes known as guided waves that bounce about and propagate down the rod.
Step-by-step explanation
When a horizontal metal rod is struck vertically from above, the impacted region is deflected downward. The rod will be flexed with the struck point being low due to inertia preventing the entire rod from responding downward at the same time. The rod's springiness will tend to straighten it, but it will exceed its original straight condition, causing the striking region to rise above the remainder of the rod. You'll end up with an up and down movement of the rod's particles, as you indicate. Depending on the length, stiffness, and mass of the rod, there may be one or more nodes along the length of the rod where there is basically no vertical motion while the rod on each side moves up and down.
Depending on the amount of detail you examine, that may or may not be the entire story. The rod's up and down flexing action is not completely separated from motion throughout its length. There is coupling between modes of oscillation in actual materials, thus some of the energy supplied to the rod will end up forming a longitudinal compression wave in the rod, which is effectively sound waves that travel down the rod and reflect from the ends. These waves are caused by the atoms in the rod moving back and forth horizontally.
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