mechanical waves Flashcards
What part of a wave directly relates to the pitch of a sound?
The wavelength or frequency
What can a wave transfer?
Energy
What happens to the frequency of a wave as the wavelength goes up?
The frequency goes down.
What happens to the volume of a sound as distance increases?
The volume goes down.
How do sound waves spread as they move away from a sound source?
They spread out in all directions.
What part of a wave directly relates to the volume of a sound?
The amplitude
What type of a wave is a sound wave?
Mechanical and compressional
What are the two types of mechanical waves?
Compressional/ longitudinal, Transverse
Name the types of medium can a mechanical wave transfer through?
Solids, liquids, gasses
What can a mechanical wave not pass through?
A vacuum
Explain how refraction works?
When waves travel from one medium to another they change direction.
What can be said about the speed of sound in the air at sea level?
It remains constant
At about 343 m/s depending on the temperature.
What happens to the speed of sound in different types of medium?
It changes
What are four things that can be measured in a wave?
Speed, frequency, wavelength, amplitude
What are two types of waves?
Electromagnetic, mechanical
What are the similarities between transverse and longitudinal waves?
They both transfer energy.
They do not transfer particles.
Explain how you would measure frequency?
Pick a particular time period and count how many waves pass by over a certain time.
What are the differences between transverse and longitudinal waves?
Transverse waves move up and down. Perpendicular to the movement of energy.
Longitudinal waves move back and forth, parallel to the movement of energy.
What is a period?
A certain length of time. For waves the period is the amount of time a frequency is based on.
How would you measure amplitude?
Determine the distance between the rest position to either a crest or a trough.
What are two ways that waves carry energy?
In higher amplitudes, and in higher frequency.
What happens when a wave “bounces” off of a solid object?
Reflection
What happens when a wave changes direction because it has went from one medium to another?
Refraction
What happens when a wave passes through multiple openings and interferes with itself?
Diffraction
What happens when two waves occupy the same space?
The waves could build on each other (constructive interference) if the peaks and troughs line up.
The waves could have destructive interference if the peaks and troughs are opposite of each other.
Or anything in-between.
How does sonar work?
A tone is sent out. It bounces off something and is received again. If you know the speed of sound you can calculate the distance.
Describe the Doppler effect.
Objects moving toward you will make sounds in a higher pitch. Objects moving away will have a lower pitch.
What is the definition of one hertz?
A hertz is a wave per second.
i.e. 5 hertz is five waves in a second.
What is the name for a wave that travels at the top of a given medium?
Surface Wave.
What kind of lines does a + sign have?
What about an = sign?
+ perpendicular
= Parallel
What is the definition of a period as it directly relates to waves?
A period is the time it takes for one wave to pass.
If you have a 2hz wave its period is a half a second.
How does a standing wave form?
When an ingoing and outgoing wave interfere with one another.
