Water waves Flashcards
What are water waves?
They are transverse waves.
What are transverse waves?
They are undulations (up and down movements) they are at right angles to the direction they are traveling in.
What are undulations?
They are up and down movements they are at right angles to the direction they are traveling in. Waves transfer energy so undulations are also at a right angle to the direction of the energy transfer.
What is reflection?
Reflection is when a wave bounces (reflects) off of a surface and changes its direction.
What is a crest?
It is the top of the wave.
What is the trough?
It is the lowest part of the wave.
What is the displacement?
It is how far a point on the wave is from the middle line.
What is the amplitude?
It is the distance from the middle to the crest or trough.
What is superposition?
It is when 2 waves combine.
What are the 3 things that can happen during superposition?
1) When 2 identical crests meet, their height doubles, after that they separate and go in different directions.
2) When 2 identical troughs meet, their depth doubles, after that they separate and go into different directions.
3) When a crest and a trough meet, they cancel out which leaves us with a flat water surface, but they then go back to how they were before.
