2019 Vocabulary: Sound Beats and Sine Waves Vocabulary

Flashcards on Sound Beats and Sine Waves Vocabulary

Amplitude

The distance from a crest or trough to the rest position on the horizontal axis; the greater the amplitude of a sound wave, the louder the sound.

Beat

The variation from soft to loud in the volume of a sound when two waves of slightly different frequencies combine.

Constructive interference

A situation in which the crests and troughs of one wave overlap the crests and troughs of another wave resulting in a new wave with higher crests and deeper troughs.

Crest

The highest point of a wave.

Destructive interference

A situation in which the crest of one wave and the trough of another overlap, resulting in a wave that has a smaller amplitude than the original waves.

Frequency

The number of times something happens in a given period of time; the frequency of a sound wave is equal to the number of waves that pass a point each second.

Hertz

The unit of frequency; one hertz is one event per second, and the symbol for hertz is “Hz.”

Sound wave

A vibration transmitted through an elastic medium such as a gas, liquid, or solid; sound causes air molecules to vibrate back and forth in the same direction that the sound is moving, creating alternating high- and low-pressure areas.

Trough

The lowest point of a wave.