Chapter 13 Waves. Flashcards
What is a wave made up of?
A wave is made up of periodic motion from one extreme position to the other extreme position and back. It transfers energy from one place to another but no matter is transferred in the process. The source of any wave is a vibration or a oscillation.
Imagine you are holding a rope and moving your hand up and down, describe the waves that are formed.
The rope waves travel down the rope, while the rope itself only moves up and down. The rope is the medium through which the waves move or propagate. Kinetic energy from the up-and-down movement is transferred by the wave from one end to the other.
What are the 2 types of wave motion?
Transverse waves and longitudinal waves.
Define transverse waves and state 2 examples of transverse waves.
Transverse waves are waves that travel in a direction perpendicular to the direction of vibration. Water waves and light waves.
Define longitudinal waves and state the only example of longitudinal waves.
Longitudinal waves are waves that travel in a direction parallel to the direction of vibration. Sound waves.
What are the crest and troughs of transverse waves?
The crest and troughs of waves are the highest and lowest points of a transverse wave, respectively.
What is the phase of a wave?
Any two points moving in the same direction and have the same speed and same displacement from the rest position are said to be in phase. Any two crests or troughs are always in phase.
What is the wavelength of a wave?
It is the shortest distance between any two points in a wave that are in phase, such as two successive crests or troughs.
What is the amplitude of a wave?
It is the maximum displacement from the rest or centre position. It is the height of the crest or the depth of the trough measured from the rest position.
What is the period of the wave?
It is the time taken for one point on the wave to complete one oscillation. It is also the time taken to produce one complete wave.
What is the frequency of a wave?
It is the number of complete waves produced per second.
What is the wave speed of a wave?
It is at the time of one period , a crest/trough on a wave would have moved one wavelength.
What is the wavefront of a wave?
It is an imaginary line on a wave that joins all points that are in the same phase.
