Chapter 10 Science Notes 2010-2011 A wave is a repeating disturbance or movement that transfers energy through matter or space

- A wave will travel only as long as it has energy to carry - All waves carry energy without transporting matter from place to place
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A medium is the matter the waves travel through

- Not all waves need a medium. Some waves can travel through space.
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Mechanical waves are waves that can travel only through matter

- 2 types of mechanical waves are transverse and compressional waves. - Sound waves are compressional waves - Water waves are not totally transverse waves - Ocean waves are mostly created by wind blowing across the water surface - Sound waves travel through the air to reach our ears.

- Anything that moves up or down or back and forth in a rhythmic way is vibrating - All waves are created by something that vibrates - The sizes of the waves that are created depends on the wind speed, the distance over which the wind is blowing, and how long the wind blows - Seismic waves are a combo of compressional and transverse waves. They travel through Earth and along Earths surface. - Waves differ in how much energy they carry and in how fast they travel
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Crests are the alternating high points of a wave Troughs are the low points of a wave Wavelength is the distance between one point on a wave and the nearest point similar to it Frequency is the number of wavelengths that pass a fixed point each second The period of a wave is the amount of time taken for a wave to pass a point. As the frequency increases, the period decreases.

- Period has units of seconds - The speed of a wave depends on the medium it is traveling - The frequency of a wave is always equal to the rate of vibration of the source that creates it - You can find the frequency of a transverse wave by counting the number of crests or troughs that pass by a point each second - The frequency of a compressional wave is the number of compressions or rarefactions that pass a point every second - A frequency of 1 Hz means that one wavelength passes by in one second. In SI units, 1 Hz is the same as 1/s. - Light waves travel more slowly in liquids and solids than they do in gases or in empty space
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Speed (in m/s) = frequency (in Hz) wavelength (in m) Wavelength is represented by the Greek letter lambda ( ) Amplitude is related to the energy carried by a wave

- The amplitude of a compressional wave is related to how tightly the medium is pushed together at the compressions

- The closer the coils are in a compression, the farther apart they are in a rarefaction - The less dense the medium is at the rarefactions, the more energy the wave carries - The amplitude of the wave increases as the energy carried by the wave increases - Reflection occurs when a wave strikes an object and bounces off of it. - Objects underwater seem closer to the surface then they really are because of refraction
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Refraction is the bending of a wave because of a change in its speed as it moves from one medium to another

- If the wave is traveling at an angle when it passes from medium to another, it changes direction, or bends as the speed changes
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Diffraction occurs when an object causes a wave to change direction and bend around it Diffraction and refraction both cause waves to bend. The difference is that refraction happens when waves pass through an object, but diffraction happens when waves pass around an object

- Waves can also be diffracted when they pass though a narrow opening - The amount to diffraction that occurs depends on how big the obstacle or opening is compared to the wavelength

- Diffraction can also affect your radio reception. AM radio waves have longer wavelengths than FM radio
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Interference is when 2 or more waves overlap and combine to create a new wave. Constructive and destructive interference are the 2 ways that the waves can combine

- In constructive interference, the waves add together. This can occur when the compressions of different compressional waves overlap. - In destructive interference, the waves subtract from each other as they overlap. This happens when the crests of one transverse wave meet the troughs of another transverse wave. Destructive interference occurs when the compression of one wave overlaps with the rarefaction of another wave.
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A standing wave is a special type of wave pattern that forms when waves equal in wavelength and amplitude, but traveling in opposite directions, constantly interfere with each other. Nodes are the place where the 2 waves always cancel. Nodes always stay in the same place on the rope while the wave pattern vibrates between the nodes Resonance is when an object is made to vibrate by absorbing energy at its natural frequencies

- Sometimes resonance makes an object absorb a big amount of energy - The amplitude of a wave increases as the energy it carries increases. Similar to this, an object vibrates more strongly as it continues to absorb energy at its normal frequencies. If enough energy is absorbed, the object can vibrate so strongly that it

breaks apart.