What’s a wave?
A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy through a medium, but the particles don’t travel — they just vibrate or move back and forth.
What’s a mechanical wave?
A mechanical wave is a disturbance that moves energy through a material by making its particles vibrate in place, while the particles themselves don’t travel.
What’s a transverse wave?
Particles move up and down while the wave travels forward. AMPLITUDE IS HOW FAR UP IT GOES FROM CENTER, CREST AND TROUGH - ECO NOTE AND WAVELENGTH LENGTH OF WAVE
What’s a longitude wave?
Particles move back and forth in the same direction as the wave. THEY REFRACT AND THEN COMPRESS, IN BETWEEN COMPRESSION IS A WAVELENGTH
What is amplitude?
Maximum displacement of the vibrating medium, half of range of vertical displacement, or just one half from center.
What’s a period of a wave?
The time it takes for one wavelength
What is the frequency of a wave?
Number of crests passing a point every second/wavelengths, 10 crests per second is 10 wavelengths per second, FORMULA SHEET (T)
What is wave interference?
Wave interference happens when two waves meet in the same medium and combine their effects, making the resulting wave bigger (constructive: SAME DISPLACEMENT - SAME PART ON GRAPH) or smaller (destructive: OPPOSITE DISPLACEMENT - UPSIDE DOWN)
What is a standing wave?
A standing wave is formed when two waves of the same frequency and amplitude travel in opposite directions and interfere, creating fixed points of no vibration (nodes) and points of maximum vibration (antinodes). - WAVE APPEARS STILL AND ENERGY STAYS IN PLACE - DOESN’T MOVE ALONG THE MEDIUM
What are harmonics?
Harmonics are the different vibration patterns that form at specific frequencies. (EACH FREQUENCY IS ASSOCIATED WITH A DIFFERENT STANDING WAVE PATTERN - HARMONICS).
FORMULA: nodes: n+1 antinodes: n
What’s a node?
A point on a standing wave where no movement happens. (Displacement = 0)
What’s an anti node?
A point on a standing wave where the particle vibrates the most. (Maximum displacement)
What is the ray model?
The ray model shows light travelling in straight lines called rays and uses arrows to indicate direction.
It helps explain reflection, refraction, lenses, and how light behaves when passing through different materials.
What is the wave model?
The wave model explains light as an oscillating wave with properties like wavelength and frequency.
It can describe effects like colours, diffraction, and interference that the ray model cannot.
What is the particle model?
The particle model explains light as tiny packets of energy called photons.
It’s needed to explain effects like the photoelectric effect, threshold frequencies, and laser operation.
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all types of light and radiation, from gamma rays to radio waves.
What’s light intensity?
Light intensity is the amount of energy (power) a light source gives off per second over a certain area.
It’s measured in watts per square metre
