understanding waves and optical fibres

oscillation

repeating bac kadn forth or up and down movement

amplitude

height of a wave

wavelength

distance from a waves peak to another peak

frequency

amount of complete waves per second

period time

amount of time it takes for one complete wave

wave speed

how fast a wave moves per unit of time

longitudinal wave

wave that moves parallel to the direction of the wave is travelling

transverse

wave that travels perpendicular to the direction the wave is travelling

displacement

the distance a wave has moved from its resting position

coherence

when two waves have the same frequency, wavelength and have a constant phase difference.

path difference

the amount of distance a wave travels more than another wave

superposition

when two waves meet together

constructive interference

when peaks line up with other peaks to make a bigger wave

destructive wave

when peaks of a wave line up with the troughs and they cancel each other out

step by step how light is made inside atoms

• electrons stay low level around the atom

• if you heat electrons you will give the electrons more energy making them go to higher levels of energy

• they cannot stay in that high level forever so they have to go to back on their low energy they release energy. This energy is released as light (photon)

• since each drop is releasing different amounts of energy, each atom will give off different colours.

diffraction grating

piece of glass that contains thousands of tiny, parallel lines cut into it. When the light passes through these cuts, this is called the emission spectrum. Every element chemical has its own patterns of lines, this helps scientists identify gassy in lamps or far away stars.

wave speed formula

wave speed = wavelength x frequency

standing waves (also known as stationary waves) how are they formed

standing waves are formed when two waves that have the same frequency travel in opposite directions and both waves collide into each other

nodes

points that have zero amplitude

antinodes

point that have the highest amplitude

resonance

pushing something at its natural rhythm which results in making the movement grow bigger

wave speed (not with wavelength and frequency)

square root tension / mass per meter of spring.