2.5 Wave Motion Flashcards
What is a mechanical wave?
An oscillation of matter transferring energy through a medium.
What is a transverse wave?
Waves that cause the medium to vibrate at a right angle to the direction of the wave or energy being carried through the medium. They have a crest and a trough.
What is the distance between a crest and a trough of a transverse wave?
Half a wavelength
What is a longitudinal wave?
Waves that cause the medium to vibrate parallel to the direction of the wave (slinky)
What are the geometric components of a sinusoidal wave?
Wavelength
Frequency
Amplitude
What is the waves amplitude?
The distance from the centreline to the crest of trough
What is the wavelength?
The distance from one point of the wave, so the same point on the next wave
What is the frequency?
The number of waves passing a point in a particular time
What is the formula for wavelength?
λ = v (wave speed) x T (time period)
What is resonance?
A vibrating system or external force drives another system to oscillate with greater amplitude at a specific preferential frequency.
What is present in a standing wave?
Nodes and Anti-Nodes
What type of waves are sound waves?
Longitudinal waves (slinky)
What are the frequencies of audible sounds?
20Hz - 20,000Hz
What is the speed of sound at sea level?
340m/s
767mph
What happens to the speed of sound as the wave moves from a lighter to a denser material?
It increases (tuning fork to a guitar)
