Lesson 1 Flashcards
Definition: a disturbance that transfers energy through a medium without producing net movement in the medium
Waves
Definition: the material that the waves travels through ex. Air, water, a coil
Medium
Definition: requires a physical medium
Mechanical wave
Definition: does not require a medium as they travel through the vacuum of space
Electromagnetic waves
Rest position of a spring is called the….
Equilibrium position
A wave that can only travel in a straight line
One dimensional wave
Definition: a single disturbance that travels through the medium
Pulse
True or False: a continuous wave is also called a periodic wave
True
True or False: periodic waves have a series of pulses that are all the same
True
What are the two types of periodic waves?
Transverse and Longitudinal waves
Is a wave in which the motion of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of wave motion
Transverse Wave
How are transverse waves generated?
When the source vibrates in a direction that is perpendicular to the direction of wave motion
What kind of waves pulses are on top called crests and underneath called troughs
Transverse waves
What is amplitude?
The height of crest from the rest position to the highest position or lowest
One complete grouping of a single crest and trough is called
A cycle
The length of one cycle of the wave is called
Wavelength
The amount of time that the source takes to produce one full cycle is called the
Period
An indication of how many cycles are produced per second is called
Frequency
A wave in which the motion of the medium is parrallel to the direction of the wave motion
Longitudinal wave
How are longitudinal waves generated?
When the source vibrate in a direction parallel to the direction of the wave motion
True or False: longitudinal waves have crests and troughs
False they do not
Places where the medium is spread out is called
Rarefactions
Places where the medium is bunched up
Compressions
