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Wavelength (λ)
The wavelength of a wave is the distance between two successive crests
or troughs. Or the distance of one complete wave.
Longitudinal wave
A longitudinal wave is a wave in which the vibrations
of the particles are parallel to the direction of travel
of the wave.
Longitudinal wave can illustrate by vibrating springs as
shows below.
To produce longitudinal wave by using spring, one student can hold
spring while another student can move spring forward and backward
as shown below. So the vibration of the spring is parallel to the
direction of wave travels.
Rarefaction
Rarefaction is the region where the particles are further apart and
has low pressure.
Speed of the wave
The speed of a wave is the distance travelled by any point
on the wave in one second.
The speed of the wave can be calculated by using the wave
equation:
Speed = frequency × wavelength, V = f λ
Example Question
Diagram below shows how the displacement of water wave
varies with time. The wavelength of the wave is 8.0 cm.
Example Question
A radio station broadcasts on a wavelength of 250m. The
speed of radio waves is 3 × 108 m/s. calculates the
frequency of the wave.
Ans: V = f λ
f = V/ λ = 3 × 108/250 = 1200 000 Hz
or 1200 kHz.
Ripple Tank
A ripple tank is a shallow glass-bottomed tank containing
small amount of water. A light shining downwards trough
the water cast shadow of the ripples on the floor below,
showing up the pattern that they make.
One way of making ripples on the surface of the water in a
ripple tank is to have a wooden bar that just touches the
surface of the water. The bar vibrates up and down at a
steady rate. This sends equally spaced straight ripples across
the surface of the water as shown below.
A spherical dipper can produce a different patter of ripples.
The dipper just touches the surface of the water. As it
vibrate up and down, equally spaced circular ripples spread
out across the surface of the water as shown below.