Wave Vocab Flashcards
What is a wave ?
A disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another without requiring matter to move the full distance.
What does medium mean?
A substance through a wave moves.
What is a mechanical wave?
A wave such as a sound or seismic wave that transfers kinetic energy through matter.
What is a transverse wave?
Wave in witch the disturbance moves at right angles to the wave.
What is a longitudinal wave?
A wave in witch the disturbance moves in the same direction as the wave travels.
What is the crest?
The highest point In a wave.
What is the trough?
The lowest point in a wave.
What is amplitude?
The maximum distance that a disturbance causes a medium to move from it’s resting position.
What is Frequency
The number of waves that pass a fixed point in a given time
What is reflection?
The bouncing back of a wave as it hits a barrier
What is refraction?
The bending of light as it it crosses a boundary between two mediums at an angle other that 90 degrees.
What is an interference?
The meeting and combining of waves the adding or subtracting of wave amplitudes that occur as waves overlap.
What is an electromagnetic wave?
A type of wave such as a light wave or radio wave that does not require a medium to travel through. a disturbance that transfers energy through a field.
What is radiation?
Energy that travels across distances in the form of electromagnetic waves.
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
The range of all electromagnetic frequencies.
What are radio waves?
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves of the lowest frequencies.
What is a microwave?
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves with higher frequencies than radio waves but lower than inferred waves.
What is ultraviolet light?
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves with frequencies higher than visible light but lower than X-rays
What are X-rays?
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves with high energy and high frequencies; electromagnetic wave with frequencies ranging from 10 to the 16th power to 10 to the 21st power.
What are gamma rays?
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves with the highest frequencies.
What is transmission?
The passage of waves through a medium.
What is scattering?
The spreading of light in all directions as parties reflect and absorb light.
What is polarization?
A way of filtering light so that all waves go in the Same direction.
What is a prism?
An optical tool that uses refraction to separate the different wavelengths that make up light.
