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    There Are Two Types of Waves

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    Jahleel Troupe
    This document defines and compares transverse and longitudinal waves. It discusses key wave parameters such as amplitude, wavelength, frequency, period, and speed. Transverse waves, like water waves, have oscillations perpendicular to the direction of travel, while longitudinal waves, like sound waves, have oscillations parallel to the direction of travel. The document provides examples and diagrams to illustrate these two main types of waves.

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    There Are Two Types of Waves

    Uploaded by

    Jahleel Troupe
    27 views5 pages
    This document defines and compares transverse and longitudinal waves. It discusses key wave parameters such as amplitude, wavelength, frequency, period, and speed. Transverse waves, like water waves, have oscillations perpendicular to the direction of travel, while longitudinal waves, like sound waves, have oscillations parallel to the direction of travel. The document provides examples and diagrams to illustrate these two main types of waves.

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    This document defines and compares transverse and longitudinal waves. It discusses key wave parameters such as amplitude, wavelength, frequency, period, and speed. Transverse waves, like water waves, have oscillations perpendicular to the direction of travel, while longitudinal waves, like sound waves, have oscillations parallel to the direction of travel. The document provides examples and diagrams to illustrate these two main types of waves.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    27 views5 pages

    There Are Two Types of Waves

    Uploaded by

    Jahleel Troupe
    This document defines and compares transverse and longitudinal waves. It discusses key wave parameters such as amplitude, wavelength, frequency, period, and speed. Transverse waves, like water waves, have oscillations perpendicular to the direction of travel, while longitudinal waves, like sound waves, have oscillations parallel to the direction of travel. The document provides examples and diagrams to illustrate these two main types of waves.

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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    Handout Completes Objective from Physics Syllabus

    Types of Waves

    1.1 differentiate between types of waves


    1.2 recall the meaning of speed, frequency, wave length, period,
    amplitude, phase, and solve problems involving
    1.3 represent transverse and longitudinal waves in displacement –
    position and displacement- time graphs
    1.4 extract information about wave parameters from graphs
    representing waves

    What are waves?

    Waves transfer energy from one point to another without transferring


    matter. They consist of disturbances which transfer the energy in the
    direction the wave travels without transferring matter.

    There are two types of waves:

     Transverse waves
     Longitudinal waves

    Transverse Waves

    Transverse waves are wave in which the vibrations of the particles or


    medium in which the wave travels are at right angles to the direction in
    which the wave travels.

    Water waves are an example of transverse waves. These can be observed


    in a ripple tank. The animation below shows transverse waves created in
    a ripple tank.
    The diagram above gives a side view of transverse water wave.
    Transverse waves consist of high parts or peaks called crests and low
    parts called troughs.

    The distance between two successive crests or two successive troughs


    is the wavelength for a transverse wave.

    The height of the crest from the undisturbed water position or the
    depth of the trough from the undisturbed water position is
    the amplitude of the wave.

    Longitudinal Waves

    Longitudinal waves are wave in which the vibrations of the particles


    or medium in which the wave travels in the same direction as to that
    in which the wave travels.

    Sound waves are an example of longitudinal waves.

    Amplitude and Wavelength – Longitudinal Waves


    The diagram above shows the side view of a sound wave. A sound wave
    is a longitudinal wave. It is made up of regions where the air molecules
    are close together and have a higher particle density known
    as compressions and of regions where the air molecules are farther apart
    and have a low particle density called rarefactions. In a sound wave the
    region of compression is at a slightly higher pressure due to the air
    molecules being pushed together whereas the region of rarefaction is at a
    slightly lower pressure as the air molecules are farther apart.

    The wavelength of a longitudinal wave is the distance between


    successive compressions or the distance between successive
    rarefactions.

    Pulses

    A pulse is a short- lived or single wave motion

    Wavetrains
    A wavetrain is a continuous group of waves with features which repeat
    regularly.

    The Wave Parameters and Equations

    1. Amplitude

    2. Wavelength

    3. Time period

    4. Frequency

    5. Wavespeed

    The amplitude (A)is the maximum displacement the vibrating


    particle travels from its undisturbed (equilibrium) position.

    The wavelength of a wave(λ) is the distance between successive


    compressions / rarefactions or the distance between two
    successive crests or two successive troughs.Wavelength may also
    be defined as the distance between any two successive points that
    are in phase.

    ThePeriod(T) of a wave is the time taken for one complete

    oscillation.

    The frequency(f) of a wave is a measure of the number of waves


    made by a source each second, or the number of waves that pass
    through a particular point in the medium each second. Frequency is
    measured in units called Hertz (Hz) which is the number of number of
    wave cycles per second.
    1
    f=
    T

    The speed of a wave/wavespeed (v)is the distance travelled in one


    second.

    This is the equation which relates wave speed, frequency and


    wavelength.

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