Wave and Sound Vocabulary

Oscilloscope

• Definition: A tool to see changes in an electrical signal.

Amplitude

• Definition: The height or strength of a vibration.

Sound Waves

• Definition: Vibrations traveling through the air that can be heard.

Longitudinal

• Definition: Describing vibrations in the same direction as they move.

Wave

• Definition: Disturbance moving through a medium, causing nearby particles to move.

Pitch

• Definition: How high or low a sound is.

Vibration

• Definition: Quick back-and-forth movement.

Reflect

• Definition: Bouncing back sound, heat, or light.

Absorb

• Definition: Taken in or soaked up by a material.

Transverse

• Definition: Sideways or perpendicular to motion.

Frequency

• Definition: The number of waves that pass a point in one second; measured in hertz (Hz).
  • Higher frequency means a higher pitch.

Wavelength

• Definition: The distance between two corresponding points on consecutive waves (e.g., crest to crest).
  • It is inversely related to frequency.

Crest

• Definition: The highest point of a wave.

Trough

• Definition: The lowest point of a wave.