What are...
A disturbance involving the transfer of energy from place to place.
Wave
A high point on a transverse wave.
Crest
The distance between two corresponding parts of a wave (e.g., between the crest of one wave and the crest of the next).
Wavelength
The process by which a wave that hits a surface bounces back.
Reflection
The interaction between waves that meet.
Interference
The ability to do work.
Energy
A low point on a transverse wave.
Trough
The maximum distance a medium can vibrate from the rest position.
Amplitude
The bending of waves due to a change in speed.
Refraction
Interference in which waves combine to form a wave with a larger amplitude than any individual wave's amplitude.
Constructive interference
The material through which a wave travels.
Medium
An area of a wave in which the particles of a medium are close together.
Compression
The number of waves that pass a given point in a certain amount of time.
Frequency
The process by which waves bend around barriers or pass through openings.
Diffraction
Interference in which two waves combine to form a wave with a smaller amplitude than either original wave had.
Destructive interference
Waves that require a medium to travel.
Mechanical Waves
A wave that vibrates the medium in the same direction in which the wave travels.
Longitudinal wave
An area of a wave in which the particles of a medium are far apart.
Rarefaction
A wave that appears to stand in one place, even though it is two waves interfering as they pass one another.
Standing wave
In a standing wave, destructive interference produces points with zero amplitude called _______.
Nodes
A repeated back-and-forth or up-and-down motion.
Vibration
A wave that vibrates the medium at right angles to the direction in which the wave travels.
Transverse wave
The unit of measurement used to measure frequency.
Hertz (Hz)
An increase in the amplitude of a vibration that occurs when external vibrations match an object's natural frequency.
Resonance
Points of maximum amplitude on a standing wave.
Antinodes