3b Properties of waves Flashcards
What are waves?
Waves transfer energy without matter. A wave is a vibration (oscillation)
What are Transverse waves?
Transverse waves are waves where the direction of vibrations is at 90 degrees to the direction in which the wave travels
What are longitudinal waves?
Longitudinal waves are when the vibrations are parallel to the direction the wave travels
Examples of Transverse waves
Mexican wave
Light
Radio wave
UV
X-RAY
Water wave
Micro waves
Any electromagnetic wave
Examples of Longitudinal waves
Sound
Pressure waves
What is the amplitude?
The maximum distance of a vibration from the rest position measured in m - dynamics
What is the frequency?
The number of complete oscillations per second. Measured in Hertz (Hz) - pitch
What is the time period?
Time taken for one complete oscillation. measured in s
What is the equation for time period and frequency?
T = 1/f
f = 1/T
What is the wavelength?
The distance between the same point on the two successive waves (eg. the distance between two successive peaks) measured in m
What is the Wavelength?
Distance between 2 waves
What is the amplitude?
Height of a wave
What is the crest?
Top of a wave
What is the trough?
Bottom of a wave
What is compression?
Where particles are closest together
What is rarefaction?
Where particles are furthest apart
What is the equation for wave speed?
Wave speed = Frequency x Wavelength
m/s = Hz x m
What is the doppler affect?
The doppler effect is a change in observed frequency of a wave if the source of detector are moving towards/away from each other
The faster the motion, the greater the change in frequency
eg. car moving towards/ away from observer
Moving towards observer (doppler effect)
If the source is moving towards the observer or the observer is moving towards the source, the observed frequency will be higher than the emitted frequency
Moving away from each other (doppler effect)
If the source and observer are moving away from each other, the observed frequency is lower than the emitted frequency
