Sine function for mechanical waves

[umdnjmed]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I'm confused about the x-axis of the sine function for mechanical waves. Does it indicate time like a displacement vs time graph would or does the graph show the positions of different particles in the media at 1 specific time only?

 

[gentlebeast]

Your first interpretation is true for all waves. The second is true for transverse wave if I understand what u mean