1 - Waves …Review from Overview
Throw it in, and what do you see? You are standing on a dock at your favorite lake. You have a rock in your hand, what do you do with it? Throw it in, and what do you see?
Waves Waves are not just what happens in water or a way to say good bye to someone Waves are all around us. Most of the things that we do everyday involve waves but you may not realize it, yet! About all of you have something with you today that relies on waves to operate correctly. When we talk about waves though, we need to specify what type of wave we are talking about. There are two types of waves and we will discuss the differences between the two. Foucault Pendulum
Types of Waves Longitudinal Waves Particles vibrate in the same direction the wave travels Ex. Sound
Types of Waves Transverse Waves- Particles vibrate perpendicular (up and down) when the wave moves left or right Ex. Waves on a rope, light waves
Parts of a Wave Crest- highest point Trough- lowest point Amplitude- maximum height from middle to crest or trough crest amplitude trough
Parts of a Wave Wavelength- distance between two consecutive crests or troughs Wavelength
Parts of a Wave Period- time taken for one complete cycle Yesterday we talked about period having the units of seconds, why was that?
Frequency - how often something happens - number of cycles / unit time - Hertz = cycles / second How many waves pass the white line? 2 If that took 1 second, what is the frequency of the wave? frequency = cycles / second = 2 / 1 s = 2 Hz If you have a lot of headaches, a doctor might say, “ How frequency are your headaches?” and you might say, “ once a week.”
How many waves pass the white line? 6 If that took 3 second, what is the frequency of the wave? frequency = cycles / second = 6 / 3 s = 2 Hz
Example Problems 1) Billy takes his pulse and counts 22 heartbeats in 30 seconds, what is the frequency in hertz? frequency = cycles / second = 22 / 30 s = 0.73 Hz 2) Ian takes his pulse and counts 54 heartbeats in 1 minute. What is the frequency in hertz? = 54 / 60 s = 0.90 Hz
period (s) frequency (Hz)
More Example Problems 3) If something has a frequency of 4 Hz, what is its period? T=1 / f T=1 / 4 Hz T= 0.25 s 4) If something has a period of 3 seconds, what is its frequency? f =1 / T f =1 / 3 s f = 0.3 Hz 5) At an amusement park, a giant ship swings back and forth with a frequency of 0.125 Hz. How long does it take the ship to swing back and forth once? T=1 / 0.125 Hz T=8 s
Wave Speed - distance per unit time Speed (m/s) distance (m) time (s) Speed (m/s) frequency (1/s) wavelength (m)
More Example Problems v=fλ v= 2 Hz · 0.4 m v= 0.8 m/s 6) Calculate the speed of ocean waves that are 0.4 m apart and have a frequency of 2 Hz. v=fλ v= 2 Hz · 0.4 m v= 0.8 m/s 7) If a wave traveling at the speed of light (3x108 m/s) has a frequency of 95.5 MHz, what is the wavelength? (1 megahertz = 1x106 hertz ) f=95.5 MHz = 9.55x107 Hz v = f λ 3x108 m/s = 9.55x107 Hz · λ λ = 3.14 m
Interferences Constructive interferences - Crests overlap crests increasing the amplitude
Interferences Destructive Interferences - Crests overlap troughs decreasing the amplitude
…so in lab the #1 rule in safety is’ “THINK before you ACT!” Physics Lab Safety Think before you act. …so in lab the #1 rule in safety is’ “THINK before you ACT!”