Waves Basics And Wave Properties Flashcards
What is transverse?
The vibrations are at right angles to the direction of travel
What is longitudinal?
The vibrations are along the same direction as the direction of travel
What is the frequency?
The number of waves per second
What is frequency measured in?
Hertz
How is the speed of wave calculated?
Speed of wave= frequency X wavelength
What is wavelength measured in?
Metres
What is the amplitude?
The high of the a wave
What is speed measured in?
Seconds
What is 1kHz (kilohertz) equal to?
1000Hz
What is 1MHz (1 megahertz) equal to?
1000000 Hz
What is the speed of light?
3x10 to the power of 8
Or 300 000 000 m/s
What does amplitude depend on?
The energy in the vibrations
What happens to the sound when we increase the frequency?
It gets louder
All waves can be what?
Reflected, reflected and diffracted
What is reflection of light?
It’s what allows us to see objects. Light bounces off them into our eyes. When a beam of light reflects from an uneven surface, the light reflects off at different angles. When it reflects from an uneven surface than it’s all reflected at the same angle and you get a clear reflection
What is the law of reflection?
Angle of incidence= angle of reflection
To what does the law of reflection apply to?
Every reflected Ray
What is total internal reflection?
When a light Ray is able to pass through a fibre by reflecting all its light
What does total internal reflection depend on?
The critical angle
Where can total internal reflection happen?
When the light Ray travels through a dense material towards a less dense material
What happens if the angle of incidence is big enough?
The Ray doesn’t come out at all, but reflects back into the material
What does big enough mean?
Bigger than the critical angle for a particular material
If the angle of incidence is less than the critical angle…
Most of the light is refracted into the outer layer, but some of it is internally reflected
If the angle of incidence is equal to the critical angle…
The Ray would go along the surface
If the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle…
No light comes out m. It’s all internally reflected
What do earthquakes and explosions produce?
Seismic waves that travel through the earth
What are P waves?
Primary waves
They are longitudinal
They travel through solids and liquids
Faster
What are S waves?
Secondary waves
They are transverse
Only travel through solids
Slower
