Waves Section 1

What Is a Wave?

What does a wave carry?

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15-1-1 What Is a Wave?

A wave is a disturbance that carries energy through matter or space.

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What Is a Wave?, continued

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15-1-2 What Is a Wave?, continued

mechanical wave: a wave that requires a medium through which to travel

–examples: sound waves, water waves

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15-1-3 What Is a Wave?, continued

medium: a physical environment in which phenomena occur

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15-1-4 What Is a Wave?, continued

• Electromagnetic waves do not require a medium.

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15-1-5 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

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15-1-6 What Is a Wave?, continued

examples: visible light waves, radio waves

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15-1-7 What Is a Wave?, continued

• Waves transfer energy.

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15-1-8 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.

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Vibrations and Waves

How are waves generated?

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15-1-9 Vibrations and Waves

Most waves are caused by vibrating objects.

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15-1-10 Vibrations and Waves, continued• The vibration of a mass-spring

system is called simple harmonic motion.

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15-1-11 Vibrations and Waves, continued• A wave is a disturbance that

transfers energy through a medium.

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Transverse and Longitudinal Waves

What is the difference between a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave?

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15-1-12 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

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15-1-13 Transverse and Longitudinal Waves, continued

longitudinal wave: a wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of wave motion

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15-1-14 Transverse and Longitudinal Waves, continued• Waves have

crests and troughs or compressions and rarefactions.

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Surface Waves

How do the particles in ocean waves move?

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15-1-15 Surface Waves

• surface waves: waves that occur at the boundary between two different mediums, such as water and air

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15-1-16 Surface Waves

The particles in a surface wave move both perpendicularly and parallel to the direction in which the wave travels.