Waves

• Waves transfer energy from one place to another but do not transfer any matter.
• When light waves pass from a phone screen to your eye or sound waves pass from the speakers to your ear, only energy is being transferred.
• Waves vibrate or oscillate, as seen in a displacement distance graph.
• The maximum displacement in a wave is known as the amplitude.
• The distance of one entire oscillation in a wave is called the wavelength.
• The opposite of the crest in a wave is called the trough.
• The frequency of a wave is measured in hertz and is a number of complete oscillations per second.
• The speed of a wave is calculated by multiplying the wavelength by the frequency.
• Transverse waves have oscillations that are perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer, while longitudinal waves have oscillations that are parallel to the direction of energy transfer.
• The frequency of a wave determines its pitch (high or low).
• The amplitude of a wave determines how loud it sounds.