Waves Test Flashcards
What are waves?
any disturbance that transmits energy through matter or space. (only carry energy, not matter)
What are mechanical waves?
waves that do require a medium to travel. they only travel through the medium, the wave does not take the medium with it.
What is a medium?
the mode of transportation for a wave. (solid, liquid, gas or combo)
What is a transverse wave?
particle movement is perpendicular to the direction of the wave. (have crests and troughs)
crest
uppermost part of a transverse wave
trough
lowest part of transverse wave
amplitude
height of a wave from the rest line/rest position
wavelength
length of a wave; distance between 2 successive points on a wave
what does lambda stand for?
wavelength
frequency
how many times a wave repeats itself in 1 second, (Hertz)
what is a longitudinal wave?
particle moment is parallel to the direction of the wave (slinky, sound waves)
What do longitudinal waves have? (not crests and troughs)
compressions and rarefactions
compression
squishes
rarefaction
stretches
What are Electromagnetic waves?
- waves that make up the electromagnetic spectrum.
- does not require a medium
what is sound?
a longitudinal, vibratory disturbance that travels in a medium and can be heard by the human ear
Does sound or light travel faster?
light
What does sound travel fastest through?
(in order) solids, then liquids, then gases
what is pitch?
our way of differentiating between frequencies
High pitch= ?
high frequency
low pitch= ?
low frequency
what is loudness?
our perception of energy in a sound
What are forced vibrations?
forcing the vibration onto the board (music box demo)
what are sympathetic vibrations?
frequency of A and B are equal; when A vibrates, it causes B to vibrate too (tuning fork)
what is resonance?
when one object vibrating at the same natural frequency of a second object causes the 2nd object to vibrate (when frequencies match up)
what is natural frequency?
the specific frequency that all things vibrate
what is reflection?
the bouncing (or reflection) of a wave
what is the reflection of sound?
echo
what is refraction?
the bending of a wave due to a change in the medium (or due to a change of medium)
what is diffraction?
bending of waves around a barrier
what is interference?
when 2 or more waves interact
constructive interference
2 waves going in the same direction create 1 larger wave
destructive interference
2 waves going in opposite directions cancel each other out
what is the doppler effect?
the change in frequency due to the motion of the source (or receiver)
What is the speed of light?
3.0 x 10^8 m/s
Speed of sound shouldn’t be confused with what??
Clarity of sound
What makes speed of sound vary?
Temperature
