Waves Vocabulary Flashcards
Wave
a disturbance on the surface of a liquid body, as the sea or a lake, in the form of a moving ridge or swell.
Crest
the foamy top of a wave.
Tough
strong and durable; not easily broken or cut.
not brittle or tender.
Amplitude
the state or quality of being ample, especially as to breadth or width; largeness; greatness of extent.
Frequency
the state or fact of being frequent; frequent occurrence: We are alarmed by the frequency of fires in the neighborhood.
Wavelength
Physics. the distance, measured in the direction of propagation of a wave, between two successive points in the wave that are characterized by the same phase of oscillation.
Period
a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
Medium
something intermediate in nature or degree
Transverse wave
a wave in which the direction of displacement is perpendicular to the direction of propagation, as a surface wave of water.
Electromagnetic wave
a wave produced by the acceleration of an electric charge and propagated by the periodic variation of intensities of, usually, perpendicular electric and magnetic fields.
Longitudinal wave
the act of compressing.
Compression
the act of compressing.
Rarefaction
the act or process of rarefying.
Reflection
the act of reflecting or the state of being reflected.
Refraction
Physics. the change of direction of a ray of light, sound, heat, or the like, in passing obliquely from one medium into another in which its wave velocity is different.
