Wave

• Vibration


  A repeated motion and produced by a back and forth or up and down movement of an object
• Wave


  A traveling disturbance that carries energy from one place to another with or without a medium
• Medium


  A substance or material that carries the wave
• Types of waves based on medium

  • Mechanical wave
  • Electromagnetic wave
• Mechanical wave


  • Requires a medium to propagate
  • Examples: sound waves, water waves, waves formed from a rope
• Electromagnetic wave


  • Does not require a medium to propagate
  • Examples: radio waves, visible light, microwaves, x-rays
• Types of waves based on direction of motion

  • Transverse wave
  • Longitudinal wave
  • Surface wave
• Transverse wave


  Particles of the medium move perpendicular to the direction of wave motion
• Longitudinal wave


  Particles of the medium move parallel to the direction of wave motion
• Surface wave


  Combination of transverse and longitudinal waves, particles undergo circular motion
• Equilibrium position

  Undisturbed position of the wave
• Crest


  Highest point of a wave
• Trough


  Lowest point of a wave
• Amplitude


  Maximum distance from the equilibrium position to a crest or trough, measure of the energy the wave carries
• Wavelength


  Distance between two successive identical parts of a wave
• Frequency


  Number of waves passing through a given point in one second, measured in Hertz
• Period


  Time taken to generate one complete wave, time taken for a crest or any point on the wave to move a distance of one wavelength
• Wave speed


  How far the wave moves in a given amount of time, equal to frequency multiplied by wavelength