3 - Waves - Transverse & Longitudinal

Question 1

What happens when a wave travels?

Answer 1

Waves transfer information and energy in the direction they are travelling without transferring matter

Question 2

How do we know it’s the wave that travels and not water/air?

Answer 2

If you drop a twig into a pool of water, ripples form. The ripples don’t carry away the water or twig with them
If you strum a guitar string, the sound waves don’t carry the air away from the guitar and create a vacuum

Question 3

What is frequency?

Answer 3

The number of complete cycles of the wave passing a certain point per second
Measured in Hertz (Hz)

Question 4

What is wavelength?

Answer 4

The length of a full cycle of the wave (crest-crest or compression-compression)

Question 5

What is a Transverse Wave?

Answer 5

• Waves with sideways vibrations (90 to the direction the wave travels)

Ones that go up and down

Will have to describe differences between this & longitudinal waves

Question 6

What is a Longitudinal Wave?

Answer 6

• Waves with parallel vibrations
• Waves squash up/stretch out the arrangement of particles
• Compressions & rarefractions

Ones that go in and out — - - - - - - - - - — - - - - - - - -

Will have to describe differences between this & transverse waves

Question 7

Give 3 examples of a Transverse Wave

Answer 7

• All electromagnetic waves (eg light)
• S-Waves (type of seismic wave)
• Ripples (water)

Question 8

Give 2 examples of a Longitudinal Wave

Answer 8

• Sound Wave
• P-Waves (type of seismic wave)