1. Waves and Oscillation waves transport energy along a medium without transporting matter

2. Types of Waves Longitudinal Waves Transverse Waves

3. Anatomy of a wave Wave crest: the highest point a wave reaches. The lowest point is called its trough. Wave height: the vertical distance in meters from a wave’s crest to its trough. Wavelength: the horizontal distance between two successive crests, often measured in meters.

4. Amplitude: a measurement of the energy of a wave. the displacement of the medium from zero or the height of a wave crest or trough from a zero point. In the BOSS activity it’s how far to the side the washers move. http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/CLASS/waves/u10l2a.html

5. Period: the time between two successive wave crests.

6. Oscillation: the repeating motion of a wave or a material— one back and forth movement. Earthquakes cause seismic waves that produce oscillations in materials with many different frequencies. Every object has a natural rate of vibration that scientists call its natural frequency. The natural frequency of a building depends on its physical characteristics, including the design and the building materials.

7. Frequency: the rate at which a motion repeats, or oscillates. number of oscillations in an earthquake wave that occur each second. unit for frequency is the Hertz 1 Hz = 1 cycle/second. In earthquake engineering, frequency is the rate at which the top of a building sways.

8. Resonance: an increase in the amplitude In this case, the distance the top of a building moves from its rest position that occurs when the frequency of the applied oscillatory force (such as earthquake shaking) is close to the natural frequency of the system. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mclp9QmCGs http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/food-facts/wine/question603.htm

9. Buildings always oscillate in an earthquake. 1985 Mexico City ground shaking resonated with the natural frequencies of 8-to-10- story buildings. severe damage to medium-height buildings that had the same frequency as the ground shaking and resonated with it. Higher and lower buildings were hardly damaged.

10. Seismic sea wave: a tsunami generated by an undersea earthquake. Tsunami: a potential destructive ocean wave created by an earthquake or other large-scale disturbance of the ocean floor.