Waves Flashcards
What is a wave?
Any disturbance that transmits energy through matter or space.
What is a medium?
Material through which a wave travels.
What is a transverse wave?
A wave that moves the medium in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels.
What is a crest?
Highest point of a wave.
What is a trough?
Lowest point of a wave.
What is wavelength?
Horizontal distance between the crests or between the troughs of two adjacent waves.
What is amplitude?
Height of a wave; maximum disturbance from rest.
What is a longitudinal wave?
A wave in which the vibration of the medium is parallel to the direction the wave travels.
What is compression in a longitudinal wave?
The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together.
What is rarefaction in a longitudinal wave?
A part in a longitudinal wave where the particles are spread apart.
What is frequency?
How many wave peaks pass a certain point per given time.
What is hertz?
Equal to one cycle per second. How frequency of waves is measured.
What is reflection?
Energy waves bouncing off the surface of an object.
What is refraction?
A change in direction of a wave when it changes speed as it travels from one material to another.
What is diffraction?
Bending waves around barriers.
What is constructive interference?
The interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a larger amplitude.
What is destructive interference?
The interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a smaller amplitude.
What is a mechanical wave?
A wave that requires a medium through which to travel.
What is pitch?
An indication of how high or low a sound is, primarily determined by the frequency of the sound wave.
What are decibels?
A unit of measurement of loudness.
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
All of the different types of electromagnetic radiation according to wavelength and frequency.
What are electromagnetic waves?
A form of energy that can move through the vacuum of space.
What are gamma rays?
Extremely high frequency and high energy waves, given off by stars and radioactive substances.
What is visible light?
Electromagnetic radiation that can be seen with the unaided eye.
What is the relationship between frequency and wavelength?
As frequency increases, wavelength decreases.
What is the relationship between amplitude and energy?
The more energy a wave is carrying, the greater its amplitude.
What is the relationship between wavelength and energy?
The shorter the wavelength, the greater the energy being transferred.
What is a digital signal?
A signal that encodes information as a string of 1’s and 0’s.
What is an analog signal?
A signal having the characteristic of being continuous and changing smoothly over a given range.
