Physics 20 Waves

Front 1

mechanical wave

Back 1

- require a medium to travel through
- Newton's laws govern the motion of these
ex. water, air, springs, ropes, etc.

Front 2

electromagnetic waves

Back 2

- no medium required
ex. light, radio, x-rays

Front 3

matter waves

Back 3

- when moving particle exhibit wave-like properties
think: quantum physics

Front 4

wave

Back 4

involves the movement of energy from one place to another by means of vibratory motion

Front 5

amplitude of a wave

Back 5

maximum displacement of the medium from its rest/equilibrium
mechanical wave: the larger the amplitude, the more energy carried by the wave

Front 6

damping of a wave

Back 6

reduction in the amplitude of a wave as it travels, caused by loss of energy to friction or b/c energy is spread over a larger area

Front 7

application of mechanical waves

Back 7

bats, dolphins (hearing + sound,) submarines, sonar, medicine, ultrasound ...

Front 8

transverse waves

Back 8

vibrations of medium are perpendicular to direction of energy flow. particles move up and down as energy moves through them.

Front 9

longitudinal waves

Back 9

vibrations of the medium are parallel to the direction of energy flow. composed of compressions and rarefactions.

Front 10

surface waves

Back 10

combination of longitudinal and transverse waves.

Front 11

reflection

Back 11

when waves bounce off a boundary between two media.
according to the law of reflection angle of incidence (between normal and incident ray) is equal to the angle of reflection (between normal and ray of reflection)

Front 12

producing waves?

Back 12

waves are produced by the vibratory motion of something in a medium

Front 13

wave pulse

Back 13

single disturbance that travel through a medium

Front 14

point source

Back 14

single point of disturbance that generates a circular wave

Front 15

wavelength

Back 15

distance between any two points on two consecutive waves that are in phase
symbol is λ (lambda) from Greek alphabet

Front 16

wave speed?

Back 16

speed of a mechanical wave depends on the PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIUM
ex. speed of water depends on depth of water
speed of sound depends on temp of air
speed of waves in spring depend on tension of material

Front 17

when waves hit boundaries...

Back 17

some of the wave is reflected and some is transmitted
*transmitted wave is always on the SAME side as original wave
*coming from a more dense medium, reflected wave is on the same side
*coming from a less dense medium, reflected wave is on opposite side

Front 18

refraction (3)

Back 18

the bending of a wave as it enters a 2nd medium
occurs due to change in velocity of the wave.
the shorter the wave, the more it refracts

Front 19

diffraction

Back 19

bending/spreading out of waves as they pass through an opening or by a corner.
*waves diffract but particles do not! as the wavelength increases, so does the amount of diffraction

Front 20

principle of superposition

Back 20

displacement of a medium caused by two or more colliding waves is the algebraic sum of the displacements caused by individual waves

Front 21

interference

Back 21

result of superposition of two or more waves

Front 22

constructive interference

Back 22

when waves collide andhteir displacements are in the same direction. the resulting wave has a larger amplitude.

Front 23

antinode

Back 23

regions of maximum displacement due to constructive interference

Front 24

destructive interference

Back 24

when two pulses of opposite amplitudes collide. resulting wave is smaller than the original - if it even exists.

Front 25

node

Back 25

region of complete destructive interference where the medium is undisturbed at all times.

Front 26

standing wave

Back 26

when waves travelling in different directions through a medium pass through each other. as they pass each other they interfere constructively and destructively.
waves appear to be standing still.

Front 27

sweet spot?

Back 27

occur at the nodes when vibrations occur due to something hitting something else. (baseball bat)

Front 28

what determines... velocity?

Back 28

MEDIUM which a wave travels through

Front 29

what determines... amplitude?

Back 29

SOURCE and MEDIUM.

Front 30

what determines... wavelength?

Back 30

SOURCE and MEDIUM

Front 31

what determines... frequency?

Back 31

SOURCE