key terms waves

wave pulse

a single disturbance that travels through a medium; coil is at rest, pulse moves through coil past a specific point, then returns to rest; can be a point, straight, etc

medium

what a wave is traveling through

traveling wave

a series of pulses at regular intervals; repeating pulses create a wave

vibration

back and forth motion in time; oscillatory motion; simple harmonic motion; energy

wave

back and forth motion in time and space; a vibration in space; waves transfer energy without transferring matter

transverse wave

a wave with vibrations perpendicular to the direction the wave is traveling; light waves; a snake’s movement

longitudinal wave

a wave with vibrations parallel to the direction the wave is traveling; sound waves; a worm’s movement

surface wave

a combination of transverse and longitudinal waves

circular waves

round waves emanating from a center disturbance

straight wave

lines emanating from a parallel disturbance

crest

point of maximum positive displacement

trough

point of maximum negative displacement

equilibrium position

zero position

amplitude

maximum displacement from equilibrium position

wave length

distance between successive identical parts of a wave

compression

area that is squeezed together; dark bands

rarefaction

area that is spread apart; light bands

source

vibration that is creating the wave

frequency

how often something occurs; the number of occurrences completed in a specific time; cycles per second; inverse of period

hertz

units of frequency; one cycle per second

period

time to complete one full cycle of motion; inverse of frequency

standing wave

wave where the interference of the incident and reflected waves occur in such a manner that points along the medium that appear to be standing still

node

point of no displacement on a standing wave

antinode

point of maximum displacement on a standing wave

reflection

bouncing of a wave

incident wave

original wave

transmitted wave

resultant wave

reflected wave

reflection of energy due to a change in medium

absorption

to take in

interference

the interaction of multiple waves traveling through the same medium

contructive interference

the combining of waves to produce a single wave of larger amplitude

in phase

doing the same thing at the same time

destructive interference

the combining of waves to produce a single wave of smaller amplitude

out of phase

not doing the same thing at the same time

refraction

the bending of a wave due to a change inmedium; changes the direction of the wave

diffraction

the bending of a wave die to a slit or obstruction

constructive iterference

the combining of waves to produce a single wavw