WavesSection 1 What Is a Wave? What does a wave carry?
WavesSection What Is a Wave? A wave is a disturbance that carries energy through matter or space.
WavesSection 1 What Is a Wave?, continued
WavesSection What Is a Wave?, continued mechanical wave: a wave that requires a medium through which to travel –examples: sound waves, water waves
WavesSection What Is a Wave?, continued medium: a physical environment in which phenomena occur
WavesSection What Is a Wave?, continued Electromagnetic waves do not require a medium.
WavesSection What Is a Wave?, continued electromagnetic wave: a wave that consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields, which radiate outward at the speed of light
WavesSection What Is a Wave?, continued examples: visible light waves, radio waves
WavesSection What Is a Wave?, continued Waves transfer energy.
WavesSection What Is a Wave?, continued As sound waves travel outward, the spherical wave fronts get bigger, so the energy spreads out over a larger volume.
WavesSection 1 Vibrations and Waves How are waves generated?
WavesSection Vibrations and Waves Most waves are caused by vibrating objects.
WavesSection Vibrations and Waves, continued The vibration of a mass-spring system is called simple harmonic motion.
WavesSection Vibrations and Waves, continued A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy through a medium.
WavesSection 1 Transverse and Longitudinal Waves What is the difference between a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave?
WavesSection Transverse and Longitudinal Waves, continued transverse wave: a wave in which the particles of the medium move perpendicularly to the direction the wave is traveling
WavesSection Transverse and Longitudinal Waves, continued longitudinal wave: a wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of wave motion
WavesSection Transverse and Longitudinal Waves, continued Waves have crests and troughs or compressions and rarefactions.
WavesSection 1 Surface Waves How do the particles in ocean waves move?
WavesSection Surface Waves surface waves: waves that occur at the boundary between two different mediums, such as water and air
WavesSection Surface Waves The particles in a surface wave move both perpendicularly and parallel to the direction in which the wave travels.