waves Flashcards
What can waves either be?
Transverse or Longitudinal
What is an examples of transverse waves?
Light, water waves, electromagnetic waves
What is an example of longitudinal waves?
Sound waves travelling through the air.
What can the movement of the waves be called?
Oscillations. (back & forth) (up and down)
Describe the movement in transverse waves?
In transverse waves the oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of energy transfers.
What are compressions?
In longitudinal waves, compression are regions in the waves where the particles are very close together
What are rarefactions?
In longitudinal waves, rarefactions are regions in the waves where particles are spaced out.
Describe the movement of longitudinal waves?
In a longitudinal wave, the oscillations are parallel to the direction of the energy transfer.
What is a medium?
A material through which a wave can be transmitted e.g air, liquid, soild
What is the key fact about medium for longitudinal waves?
ALL longitudinal waves require a medium to travel in
What is the key fact about medium for transverse waves?
NOT ALL transverse waves require a medium to travel in.
What travel in waves?
the wave travels, not the particle. The particle oscillates, but does not travel through the medium.
What do we describe wave motion in terms of?
-amplitude
-wavelength
-frequency
-period.
What is the undisturbed position?
A point in the centre when the wave is not moving.
What is the AMPLITUDE?
AMPLITUDE:
The furthest point the wave vibrates from this undisturbed position.
What is the WAVELENGTH?
The wavelength of a wave is the distance from a point on one wave to the equivalent point of the adjacent wave.
How can we measure wave length on a Longitudinal wave?
We measure from one compression to the next compression. Or one rarefaction to the next rarefaction.
What is FREQUENCY?
The frequency is the number of waves passing a point each second. It is measure in Hz (Hertz)
What is frequency measured in and what does it equal it to?
1 Hz = 1 wave per second
so then,
5 Hz = 5 wave per second
What is PERIOD?
The period is the time (in seconds) for one wave to pass a point
What is the formula for PERIOD?
period (s) = 1 / frequency (Hz)
T = 1/f
