Nature of Waves

• A progressive wave is a pattern of disturbances travelling through a medium while carrying energy
• Displacement is the distance of a particle from equilibrium position
• Amplitude is the maximum displacement
• Period is the time taken for a particle to complete one cycle
• Frequency is the number of wave cycles that pass through a point per second
• Wavelength is the minimum distance between two points of a wave oscillating in phase
• Wavelength and amplitude can be measured from a displacement distance graph
• Period and frequency cannot be measured from a displacement distance graph as it only shows all particles for one point in time
• Period and amplitude can be measured from a displacement time graph
• Wavelength cannot be measured from a displacement time graph as it is a distance
• Particles in phase are one wavelength apart
• Particles in phase oscillate at the same time as each other
• Particles in antiphase have the same position but in the opposite direction
• Particle oscillations occur perpendicular to the direction of travel in transverse waves
• Particle oscillations occur parallel to the direction of travel in longitudinal waves