Waves Vocabulary Words Flashcards
Wave
A disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another with out requiring matter to move the entire distance.
Medium
A substance through which a wave moves.
Mechanical Wave
A wave such as a sound or seismic wave that transfers kinetic energy through matter.
Transversal Waves
A wave in which the disturbance moves at right Angels to the direction of the wave.
Longitudinal Wave
A type of wave in which the disturbance moves in the same direction that the wave travels.
Crest
The highest point or peak of the wave.
Trough
The lowest point or the valley of a wave.
Amplitude
The maximum distance causes a medium to move from its rest position.
Wave Length
The distance between crest to the next wave crest.
Frequency
The number of waves that pass a fixed point Ina given period of time.
Reflection
The bouncing back of a wave after it hits a barrier.
Refraction
The bending of light as it crosses a boundary between two mediums at an angel other than 90 degrees.
Diffraction
The separation out of waves as they pass through an opening or around the edges of an obstacle.
Interference
The meeting and combining of waves: the adding or subtraction of wave amplitudes that occur as waves overlap.
Electromagnetic Spectrum
The range of all electromagnetic frequencies.
Radiation
Energy that travels across distances in the form of electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic Waves
electricity and magnetism combined to produce waves of energy.
Radio Waves
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of the waves lowest frequencies.
Microwave
Part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves with a higher frequencies than radio waves but lower frequencies than infrared waves.
Infrared Light
Part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves with a frequencies between those of microwaves and visible light.
Ultraviolet Light
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of wave of a frequencies higher than those visible light and lower than x-rays.
X Ray
The part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of waves with hight frequencies and high energies; electromagnetic waves with frequencies 10 to the 16 power 10 to the 21 Hertz.
Gamma Rays
Part of the electromagnetic spectrum that consists of the waves with the highest frequencies.
Transmission
The passage of waves through a medium.
Absorption
The disappearance of a wave into a medium. The energy transferred by a wave is converted into another from of energy.
Scattering
The spreading out of light waves in all directions as particles reflect and absorb light.
Polarization
A way of filtering light so that all of the waves vibrate in the same direction.
Prism
An optical tool that uses refraction to light to separate the different wavelengths that make up white light.
Primary Colors
The colors of (red,yellow,and blue) that can be mixed to produce all possible colors.
Primary Pigment
Three colors of substances (cyan,yellow,and magenta) that can be mixed to produce any possible colors.
