The Basics
What is a wave
A disturbance that transfers energy from place to place
What is the amplitude?
The height of its wave from its resting point
What is sound?
Sound is a form of energy that occurs when object vibrate
How do musical instruments produce sound?
Through vibrations
How do waves cause things to move?
Waves cause things to move through their vibrations.
What causes waves
Vibrations
What is a wavelength?
The distance between two corresponding parts of a wave
What is pitch?
How high or low a sound seems?
How does a triangle make a sound?
When a triangle is hit, the metal vibrates producing a sound.
Describe the similarities and differences between longitudinal and transverse waves.
For transverse waves, the waves move in perpendicular direction to the source of vibration. For longitudinal waves, the waves move in parallel direction to the source of vibration . They are similar in the sense that energy is transferred in the form of waves
What are longitudinal waves?
Waves that travel in the same direction as the disturbance that causes it
What is frequency?
How fast the wave vibrates
What is intensity?
How loud or soft a sound seems?
How does a ukulele make a sound?
Ukuleles make sound through the vibration of the strings. When you pluck a string, the vibrations are amplified by the wood and the sound hole. When you hold down higher up the neck, the frequency and pitch increases.
What do you think would happen to sound waves in outer space? Explain your reasoning.
Sound waves are not able to move in space because space is a vacuum, not a medium
What is a transverse wave?
Waves that move the medium at right angles to the direction in which the wave travels
How does the amplitude affect how much energy a wave has?
The higher the amplitude, the more energy a wave has. The lower the amplitude, the less energy a wave has.
How does frequency affect pitch?
The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. The lower the frequency, the lower the pitch.
How does a harmonica make a sound?
Harmonicas produce sound when a player blows or inhales air through a series of air channels that contain metal reeds that vibrate.
Imagine you could see sound waves. What do you think they would look like coming from different sources (like a bird singing, a drum being hit, and a person whispering)? Describe the differences you might see.
Sound waves would look different depending on the pitch and intensity of the animal's sound.
-A bird would produce waves that are close together because of its high pitch and frequency
-A drum would produce waves that are farther apart because of its low pitch and frequency
-A person whispering would have a low amplitude because of its low volume
What are the three types of mediums that waves travel through?
How does the frequency affect the speed of the wave?
The higher the frequency, the faster the wave is. The lower the frequency, the slower the wave is.
How does amplitude affect intensity?
The higher the amplitude, the louder the sound will be. The lower the amplitude, the softer the sound will be.
Pick an instrument of your choice (except a triangle, ukulele, and harmonica) and describe how it works
Answers may vary
Waves travel through a medium but do not carry the medium with them. Can you think of an example from your everyday life where you see or experience this happening? Explain how the energy moves but the medium doesn't in your example.
One example of this would be a duck floating in the ocean. The waves move through the water while the duck stays in place. The waves move but they don't carry