P6-Waves Flashcards
What do waves do?
Waves transfer energy from one place to another without transferring any matter.
What direction do waves transfer energy?
The direction they are travelling.
Describe particles and energy in a wave?
Overall, the particles stay in the same place - only energy is transferred.
What is amplitude?
Amplitude of a wave is the maximum displacement of a point on the wave from its undisturbed position.
What is wavelength?
Distance between the same point on two adjacent waves. (E.g the trough of one wave to the trough of the next wave).
What is frequency?
The number of complete waves passing a certain point per second. Frequency is measured in hertz. 1Hz = 1s
What is the period of a wave?
Amount of time it takes for a full cycle of the wave.
All waves are either….
Transverse or longitudinal.
Describe transverse waves vibrations?
They have sideways vibrations.
Describe longitudinal waves vibrations?
Have parallel vibrations.
What is wave speed? What is the equation?
The speed at which energy is being transferred (or speed the wave is moving at).
Wave speed = Frequency x wavelength.
When a wave meets a boundary what 3 thing might happen?
The wave is absorbed.
The wave is transmitted.
The wave is reflected.
What happens when a wave is absorbed?
The wave transfers energy to the material’s energy stores. Often, the energy is transferred to a thermal energy store, leading to heating.
What happens when a wave is transmitted?
The wave carries on travelling through the new material. This often leads to refraction. Used in communications and lenses of glasses and cameras.
What happens when the wave is reflected?
The wave is ‘sent back’ away from the second material. This is how echoes are created.