Week 2-4 Notes on Waves and Sound

These flashcards cover key concepts related to waves and sound from lecture notes.

Wave

A disturbance that travels through a medium, carrying energy.

Transverse Wave

A wave where the movement of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of the wave's travel.

Longitudinal Wave

A wave where the movement of the medium is parallel to the direction of the wave's travel.

Huygens Principle

All points on a wavefront can be considered as sources of secondary wavelets which propagate in all directions.

Superposition Principle

The principle stating that when two or more waves overlap, the resulting wave displacement is the sum of the individual displacements.

Polarization

The orientation of the oscillations of transverse waves, such as light waves, in a particular direction.

Reflection

The bouncing back of a wave when it encounters a barrier.

Refraction

The bending of waves as they pass from one medium to another, changing speed.

Doppler Effect

The change in frequency or wavelength of waves in relation to an observer moving relative to the source of the waves.

Standing Wave

A wave formed by the interference of two waves of the same frequency traveling in opposite directions.

Interference

The process by which two or more waves combine to form a new wave pattern.

Diffraction

The bending of waves around obstacles or through openings, resulting in spreading out.

Intensity

The power per unit area carried by a wave.

Acoustic Waves

Sound waves that travel through a medium.

Sonar

A technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with, or detect objects underwater.

Infrasonic Waves

Waves with frequencies below the audible range for humans.

Ultrasonic Waves

Waves with frequencies above the audible range for humans.

Beats

An interference pattern between two waves of slightly different frequencies.

Shock Wave

A type of disturbance that travels faster than the speed of sound, producing a sonic boom.

Mersenne's Law

A law that relates the frequency of a vibrating string to its length and tension.