Waves Vocab

**Frequency** - a rate of something that repeats over and over

**Pulse** - a short burst that travels in a wave

**Wave** - a back and forth pattern of mation that transfer energy

**Compression Wave** - a wave in which the waves medium is compressed in the same direction as the movement (also called a longitudinal wave)

**Longitudinal Wave** - a wave in which the waves medium is compressed in the same direction as the movement (also called a compression wave)

**Reflection** - the bouncing back of waves off an object

**Transverse Wave** - a wave in which the movement of the waves medium is perpendicular to the movement of the wave traveling through the medium

**Nodes** - a point where a wave crosses it resting line

**Crest** - the high point of a wave

**Trough** - the low point of a wave

**Amplitude** - the height of the peaks above the resting line in a wave

**Wavelength** - the length of one wave; can be measured as the distance from the center of one peak to the center of the next peak

**Energy** - usable power the can be transferred or converted to different forms but cannot be created or destroyed

**Mechanical Wave** - a wave that can only travel through a medium

**Medium** - a substance or material (solid, liquid, gas)

**Inverse Relationship** - a mathematical relationship where if one variable increases, the other decreases

**Variable** - any factor that can be changed

**Prototype** - a physical or digital model of a new design

**Brainstorm** - a process in which people freely make up creative ideas

**Constraint** - a factor that limits what can be done

**Research** - the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and research new conclusions

**Decibel** - (dB) a unit used to measure the amplitude of sound

**Criterion** - (plural - criteria) a requirement that must be met

**Absorb** - to take in or soak up