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Types of Waves
Introduction
Have you ever been standing near radio that was playing music so loud that your ears hurt and the bass was beating in your chest? If you answered “yes” then you have just been a medium for a mechanical wave. Waves are disturbances that cause media to vibrate. They are constantly generated and constantly traveling through different media. Some waves need media (matter) to travel through and some waves can travel through empty space. Waves that need to travel by transferring their energy in matter are called mechanical wave. Waves that do not need matter to travel through are called electromagnetic waves.
Mechanical Waves
There are 3 types of mechanical waves: transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and surface waves.
Transverse Waves
Transverse waves are mechanical waves that travel perpendicular to an applied force. A way to remember that transverse waves travel perpendicular is that "transverse" begins with the letter "T" and "T" forms a perpendicular shape. Below is a picture showing the applied force and wave direction:
For practice on learning the parts of a transverse wave, visit this page
Longitudinal Waves
Longitudinal waves are mechanical waves that travel parallel to an applied force. Below is a picture showing the applied force and wave direction:
For practice on learning the parts of a longitudinal wave, visit this page
Have you ever been standing near radio that was playing music so loud that your ears hurt and the bass was beating in your chest? If you answered “yes” then you have just been a medium for a mechanical wave. Waves are disturbances that cause media to vibrate. They are constantly generated and constantly traveling through different media. Some waves need media (matter) to travel through and some waves can travel through empty space. Waves that need to travel by transferring their energy in matter are called mechanical wave. Waves that do not need matter to travel through are called electromagnetic waves.
Mechanical Waves
There are 3 types of mechanical waves: transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and surface waves.
Transverse Waves
Transverse waves are mechanical waves that travel perpendicular to an applied force. A way to remember that transverse waves travel perpendicular is that "transverse" begins with the letter "T" and "T" forms a perpendicular shape. Below is a picture showing the applied force and wave direction:
For practice on learning the parts of a transverse wave, visit this page
Longitudinal Waves
Longitudinal waves are mechanical waves that travel parallel to an applied force. Below is a picture showing the applied force and wave direction:
For practice on learning the parts of a longitudinal wave, visit this page
Vocabulary click the vocabulary term
Wave
Medium
Vibrate
Transverse Wave
Longitudinal Wave
Surface Wave
Crest
Trough
Amplitude
Resting Point
Wavelength
Compressions
Rarefactions
Frequency
Hertz
Reflection
Refraction
Diffraction
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