Science Flashcards
Energy
The ability to do work or cause change
Wave
A disturbance involving the transfer of energy from place to place.
Medium
The material through which a wave travels through.
Mechanical waves
Waves that require a medium to travel.
Vibration
A repeated back and forth or up and down motion
Transverse waves
A wave that vibrates the medium at the right angles, or perpendicular, to the direction in which a wave travels.
Crest
A high point on a transverse wave.
Trough
A low point on a transverse wave.
Longitudinal wave
A wave that moves a medium in a direction parallel to the direction in which the wave travels
Compression
The part of the longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together.
Rarefaction
The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are far apart.
Surface waves
Combinations of transverse and longitudinal waves.
