kinematics

Question 1

displacement

Answer 1

the distance it travelled in a specific direction from its equilibrium position.

Question 2

amplitude

Answer 2

magnitude of the maximum displacement of a particle in the wave from its equilibrium position.

Question 3

period

Answer 3

time taken for a particle to undergo one complete cycle of oscillation
it is also the time for the wave to travel through one wavelength.

Question 4

frequency

Answer 4

the number of complete cycles performed by a particle per unit time
(It is also the number of wavelengths that pass a given point per unit time.)

Question 5

phase difference

Answer 5

a measure of how much one wave is out of step with another wave
or how much two particles in the same wave are out of step with each other.
It is normally expressed from 0 to 2π rad

Question 6

wavelength

Answer 6

the distance between two consecutive points which are in phase (such as two successive crests or two successive troughs).

Question 7

(wave) speed

Answer 7

distance travelled by the waveform per unit time

Question 8

progressive vs stationary

Answer 8

all particles
- same amplitude
-different amplitude 
adjacent particles
-not in phase 
-(between 2 consecutive nodes) are in phase
energy
-transferred
-not transferred

Question 9

transverse wave

longitudinal wave

Answer 9

particles in the wave oscillates in a direction perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer of wave

particles in the wave oscillates in a direction parallel to the direction of energy transfer of wave

Question 10

polarised

Answer 10

particles in a polarised wave oscillates only in direction that is normal to the direction of energy transfer of wave

**only transverse waves can be polarised; longitudinal cannot

Question 11

Malus’ Law

Answer 11

the intensity of a beam of plane-polarised light after passing through a polariser varies with the square of the cosine of the angle through which the polariser is rotated from the position that gives maximum intensity