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A disturbance that travels through a medium and transports energy from one place to another or between objects
What is a wave
100
a single unit of disturbance moving through a medium from one location to another location
What is a pulse
100
List 4 fundamental properties of waves
What are frequency, amplitude, wavelength and speed.
100
In phase waves add up to make a larger amplitude. The energy of two waves add together. This is like pushing on a person on a swing when they are moving away from you: you give them more energy and more amplitude
What is Constructive interference
100
a wave’s energy dies out in a soft material Example: PAH, Yelling into a pillow. A soft pillow absorbs the sound or a bedroom
What is absorption (could use damping)
200
a substance or material that carries a wave and is related to the speed of a wave
What is a medium
200
waves that move in concentric circles perpendicular to the wave front from a point. Drop a rock in a pond to make them.
What is Circular waves
200
the high point on a wave or wave front
What is Crest (peak)
200
out of phase waves add up to make a smaller amplitude. The energy of two waves subtract from each other, causing cancellation. Pushing on a person on a swing as they are going toward you (at the wrong time) causes the amplitude to be smaller. Leads to Damping
What is Destructive interference
200
the process by which waves can bend around corners or pass through openings of any size. Usually causes a change of direction and shape. A wave drags against a corner, causing that part of the wave to turn. This is how we can hear around corners and how light can be seen around corners.
What is Diffraction
300
the name of the first harmonic. It is ½ wavelength, with 2 nodes and one anti-node
What is Fundamental
300
a unit of one cycle per second used to measure frequency and its abbreviation.
What is Hertz (Hz)
300
(Mechanical) a wave whose oscillations are in the same direction (parallel) as the wave moves. Example: sound
What is Longitudinal wave
300
the bounce of a wave off a hard surface in an angle equal to the incident ray
What is Reflection
300
occurs when light passes from one medium to another and bends. Examples: Light bending as it passes from air into glass of eyeglass lenses or air to water
What is Refraction
400
describes how an object vibrates; for example, a guitar string strummed repeatedly has its own natural force. It depends on tightness, length, weight, size, inertia and forces in a system. Musical instruments, bridges, buildings all have one.
What is Natural frequency (fundamental)
400
a wave trapped in one spot. Sometimes waves are trapped in boundaries. If the length of a wave matches the space it is in, resonance occurs, causes maximum amplitude. They then seem to stand still. They occur only at certain frequencies.
What is Standing wave
400
the low point or bottom of a wave
What is a trough
400
another term used to describe the crests or peak of a wave that leads the movement
What is Wavefront
400
What is the fat part of the wave, the amplitude called
What is anti-node
500
an occurrence whereby the natural frequency of a system is exactly in tune with a force applied to the system. It is the reinforcing of an object’s natural frequency so that the amplitude increases quickly. When an object vibrates sympathetically and amplifies the energy of a wave. Certain loud notes in a bathroom or how a soprano can break a glass
What is Resonance
500
a wave whose oscillation is perpendicular to the direction the wave travels (oscillations). Example: water waves, light or electromagnetic spectrum
What is Transverse wave
500
List 5 applications of waves other than the visible spectrum
What are, IR, UV, X-ray, sound, phone, food radiation. microwaves, earthquake
500
the point on the wave that does not move
What is a node
500
increase the tension on a piano string and what happens to the frequency and amplitude
What is frequency increases, amplitude decreases
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