Waves In Matter Flashcards
What is a wave?
A regular disturbance that transfers energy in the direction the wave is travelling without transferring matter
What are the 2 types of waves?
- Longitudinal
- Transverse
What is a transverse wave?
A wave for which the oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer.
What is a longitudinal wave?
A wave for which the oscillations are parallel to the direction of energy of transfer.
Give 2 examples of transverse waves
- Electromagnetic waves
- Seismic s-waves
Give 2 examples of longitudinal waves
- Sound waves
- Seismic p-waves
What are 2 parts of a longitudinal wave called?
Compressions and rarefactions
What is a waves amplitude?
The maximum displacement of a point on a wave from its undisturbed position.
What is wavelength?
The distance from a point on a wave to the same position on the adjacent wave, most commonly peak to peak or trough to trough
What is the frequency of a wave?
The number of waves that pass in a given point each second
What is wave speed?
The speed at which energy is transferred through a medium
Wave speed formula and name correct units
Wave speed = frequency x wavelength
Speed (m/s), frequency (Hz), wavelength (m)
What is refraction?
The change in speed of a wave as it reaches a boundary between 2 media, changing the direction of the wave
What property of as wave isn’t changed by refraction?
Frequency
When entering a denser material, light waves…
Slow down and bend towards the normal
How do sound waves travel through a solid?
The particles in the solid vibrate and transfer kinetic energy through the material
What are ultrasound waves and give uses?
Waves which have a higher frequency than the upper limit of human hearing. Eg medical or industrial imaging
Order the types of electromagnetic radiation from lowest to highest frequency.
Radio waves
Microwaves
Infrared
Visible light
Ultraviolet
X-rays
Gamma rays
How do the speeds of EM radiation differ in a vacuum and in air?
EM waves all travel at the same speed in a vacuum and in air
What health effects can ultraviolet waves cause?
They can cause skin to age prematurely and can increase the risk of developing skin cancer
what is a time period?
Time taken to complete one whole wave
