Category: General Wave Properties

• The source of any wave is a vibration or an oscillation.
• Waves transfer energy from one point to another.
• In waves, energy is transferred without the medium being transferred.

Longitudinal wave is a wave in which the movment of particles in the medium is parallel to the direction of a wave motion.

Transverse wave is a wave in which the movement of particles in the medium is perpendicular to the direction of a wave motion.

Wavefront is an imaginary line on a wave that joins all points in the same phase.

Amplitude is the maximum displacement of a particle in a wave from its rest position.

Period is the time taken to produce one complete wave.

Wavelength is the shortest distance between any 2 points in a wave that are in phase.

Frequency of a wave is the number of complete waves produced per second.

A wave motion is a movement or a disturbance through a medium, where the individual particles in the medium only vibrate vertically, horizontally, or in a cyclical pattern.

The wave motion can be illustrated:
– In a rope, when one end of a rope is moved in an up-and-down motion in a cyclical pattern.
– In a spring, when the spring is moved in an up-and-down motion, or a back-and-forth motion, in a cyclical pattern.
– In a ripple tank, when the dipper is moved in an up-and-down motion on the water surface, producing water waves.