Waves Vocabulary Flashcards
Crest
The highest point of waves
Transverse waves
The medium moves at right angles to the direction the wave travels.
Trough
The lowest points of a wave
Amplitude
The distance between crest/trough of a wave to the rest position of the medium.
Longitudinal/Compressional Wave
A type of wave where matter vibrates in the same direction as the wave travels
Compression
The dense area of a compressional wave
Rarefaction
The less dense parts of a compressional wave.
Wavelength
The distance between identical points on two adjacent.
Frequency
The number of wave crests that pass a point during one second; expressed in hertz.
Medium
A material in which a wave travels.
Pitch
The highness or lowness of a sound, which is determined by frequency of the sound waves
Loudness
The human perception of sound intensity.
Intensity
In sound waves, the amount of energy in each wave; the intensity level of a sound is measured in decibels
Doppler Effect
Increase or decrease in wave frequency caused by motion of source or observer.
Hertz
The unit of measurement for frequency.
