Chapter 11 - Waves 1 Flashcards
define progressive waves
a wave which transfers energy from one place to another with a wave front which travels through the material
what’s a longitudinal wave
a wave in which particles oscillate parallel to the direction of energy transfer
what is a transverse wave
waves where the particle oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer
what is phase difference
the amount which one wave lags behind another as a proportion of the wavelength
define refraction
when a wave bends at a boundary between two surfaces due to the difference in density, causing it to either speed up or slow down.
can all waves be polarised?
no, only transverse waves
how are intensity and amplitude related
intensity is directly proportional to amplitude squared
what is the refractive index of a material
a measure of how fast light travels in a material compared to its speed in a vacuum
superposing waves
where two waves in the same place will combine
two types of interference
constructive and destructive
define coherence
coherent waves have the same frequency and wavelength and also a fixed phase difference
if two waves are in phase will they interfere constructively or destructively?
constructively
what would increasing slit width do to the width of the central diffraction maximum
increase
what is polarisation
where particles only oscillate along one direction
what does a polarising filter do
only allows waves travelling in the same direction to pass through
