Waves

Maybe water waves come to mind…

But let’s think about the energy moving THROUGH the water.

In general, there are two types of waves … In general, there are two types of waves …. …two ways that energy moves through something.

Do you remember what the two types of waves are?

Transverse waves…

and Longitudinal waves

The crest is the top of a wave The trough is the bottom of a wave

Find the crest and trough.

What’s WAVELENGTH?

Wavelength is… the distance from crest to crest or trough to trough

What’s AMPLITUDE?

Amplitude measures how big the wave is. IMPORTANT: We measure only the TOP HALF or the BOTTOM HALF of the wave.

Big amplitude = lots of energy.

What’s FREQUENCY?

Frequency is how often a wave passes a certain point.

To Measure Frequency use the following equation: Frequency = number of events (waves) time (s)

The word that musicians use for frequency is pitch The word that musicians use for frequency is pitch. The shorter the wavelength, the higher the frequency, and the higher the pitch of the sound.

In other words, short waves sound high; long waves sound low.

Now, let’s see what you remember!