Waves

Question 1

what are waves

Answer 1

travelling disturbances that transport energy from one location to another without transporting matter

Question 2

electromagnetic waves

Answer 2

only waves that can travel through a vacuum (empty space without matter)

Question 3

mechanical waves

Answer 3

waves that requires a medium to travel through

can travel very large distances, but the individual particles in the medium never move far from their original position.

Question 4

two types of mechanical waves

Answer 4

longitudinal
transversal

Question 5

what happens in your transversal wave

Answer 5

particles in the medium vibrate, perpendicular to the direction the wave is travelling

when they reach a max or a min point they reach a crest or peak

Question 6

what happens in a longitudinal wave

Answer 6

particles in the medium vibrate parallel to the direction the wave is travelling

as wave travels, it creates regions of high pressure (compression) and low pressure (rarefaction) in a medium

Question 7

amplitude (A)

Answer 7

maximum displacement of the particles in the medium from their resting position. Measured in metres

Question 8

wavelength (lambda)

Answer 8

the distance over which the wave’s shape repeats (distance between peaks)

Question 9

frequeny (f)

Answer 9

the number of wace cycles per second. Measured in hertz. Hz = wave cycles per second

Question 10

what is Periods (T)

Answer 10

amount of time it takes for one complete wavelength to pass a specified point. Measured in seconds

time is inversely proportional to frequency.

Question 11

velocity

Answer 11

displacement/time

V = lamba/T
V = lamba x f