User:Atcovi/What is a Wave?

See also: User:Atcovi/What is a Wave?/3 important properties of a wave; User:Atcovi/What is a Wave?/Sound (LONGITUDINAL) Waves; User:Atcovi/What is a Wave?/Electromagnetic Waves; User:Atcovi/What is a Wave?/Light & Color

What is a wave?
All waves carry Energy, waves are created by an energy source.

Mechanical Waves

 * Passes through solid, liquid, or gas.
 * Does not pass through a vacuum
 * Can be...
 * Transverse Waves
 * Longitudinal (Compression) waves
 * Surface Wave

Electromagnetic Waves

 * Pass through a vacuum
 * May also pass through solid, liquid, or gas.
 * Always...
 * Transverse Waves

Transverse
Matter vibrates perpendicular to the direction the wave travels.

Vocabulary

 * Crest - Highest point of a wave
 * Trough - Lowest point of a wave
 * Wavelength - Horizontal distance between adjacent crests or troughs


 * Amplitude - Distance a wave rises or falls from its mid (or rest) position.
 * Amplitude = ½ x wave height
 * Amplitude determined by amount of energy

Compressional
Meter vibrates in the same direction the wave travels

Vocabulary

 * Compression - most dense concentration of particles in a wave
 * Rarefaction - least dense concentration of particles in a wave
 * Wavelength - Horizontal distance between 2 compressions or 2 rarefactions.


 * Amplitude - The greater the compression, the greater the amplitude (energy)