University:
Campbell University
Course:
PHYS 222 | General Physics II
Academic year:

2023
Views:

451

Pages:

2
Author:

suzshikn4

Notes – Waves - There are two types of waves. Waves that are mechanical in nature (water and sound waves) and waves that are electromagnetic in nature (light, radio and x-rays). - Mechanical waves need a medium to transmit them (air, water or other matter), while electromagnetic don’t need a medium to move and they move at the speed of light. - Mechanical waves can be divided into three parts. 1.) Transverse waves – when the particles of the medium vibrate perpendicular to the direction of wave travel. - Piano and guitar strings act like this. Ex. - Direction of movement of wave 2.) Longitudinal waves – when the particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of wave travel. - Sound waves act like this. Ex. – Direction of movement of wave 3.) Surface waves – a mixture of parallel and perpendicular movement of the particles of medium to the direction of wave travel. Water in a lake with waves act like this. Ex. – - A wave pulse is a single disturbance travelling through a medium. A student jerking a rope once will cause a single pulse. - A travelling wave is created by a regular repeating motion through the medium. A student moving a rope back and forth quickly and repeatedly will cause a travelling wave. 1 - Period (T) is the time between an interval start and then starting again. In relation to waves the period is the time it takes for a vibration to pass a point until the next time the vibration passes that point in a travelling wave. - Frequency (f) is the number of complete vibrations passing a single point per second. One vibration per second is one hertz (Hz). Frequency and period are related by the equation = . - Ex. – A sound wave has a frequency of 262 . What is the time between successive wave crests (the period)? Answer – - Wavelength (λ) is the distance from one peak (crest) to the next peak of a transverse wave (or trough to trough). crest λ Ex. – trough - The velocity of a wave can be calculated by the equation = or as it’s more often written = . - Both of these equations should make sense as velocity is distance divided by time and the wavelength is a certain distance and the period takes a certain amount of time. - Ex. – A sound wave with frequency 262 has a wavelength of 1.29 . What is the speed of the sound wave? Answer – - Two waves can have the same frequency but have different wavelengths. As well waves of sound can be soft or quite. These differences are caused by a difference in amplitude. Amplitude is the maximum displacement from the middle to the highest point. Ex. - Wave A Amplitude λ Wave B Amplitude - A wave with larger amplitude contains and transfers more energy. 2

Wave Notes

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