Sound Waves Vocabulary

Flashcards about sound waves.

Longitudinal Wave

A wave where the back and forth motion happens in the same direction in which the wave travels.

Displacement Wave

Describes sound waves in terms of the movement of particles in the air.

Pressure Wave

Describes sound waves in terms of areas of high and low pressure.

Pitch

Corresponds to the frequency of a wave; higher pitch means air is vibrating back and forth more times per second.

Ultrasonic

Sounds that are too high in pitch for humans to hear.

Infrasonic

Sounds that are too low in pitch for humans to hear.

Intensity

A wave's power over its area, measured in watts per meter squared; proportional to the wave's amplitude squared.

Decibels

Units used to measure the loudness of sounds, based on a logarithmic scale where each notch is 10 times higher than the previous one.

Doppler Effect

The phenomenon where the pitch of a sound increases as its source moves towards you and decreases as it moves away.