Waves and Radiation

  • Waves and radiation carry energy from one location to another
  • Waves are formed when particles are pushed from their 'rest' position and are sprung back. As one particle is pushed, it pushes the particle beside it and so on.
  • Transverse waves are particles moving in a right angle. E.g. Water waves and some earthquake waves
  • Crest = top of the wave

Trough= bottom of the wave

Amplitude= distance from normal position to crest or trough

Displacement= distance from the crest to the trough

Wavelength= length of one wave, the distance between the crests or two troughs

Frequency= number of waves at a certain time

  • Progressive means moving forward
  • Standing waves do not move anywhere, and are caused by identical waves moving to the opposite of each other.
  • Water and sound waves travel through a substance whereas E.M waves do not.

Definitions:

  • Wave= movement of particles through a medium
  • Reflection= when an object or wave bounces off a hard surface
  • Refraction = the bending of waves
  • Dispersion= when waves spread out through a small opening
  • Break = when depth of water is slightly greater than the depth of the trough in another wave.
  • Interference= when two crests or crest and trough add together to cancel out or give a bigger wave.
  • Swell= regular ocean waves.
  • White caps = unstable breaking waves caused by the wind
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A reflected wave has less energy than the original wave.

Sound waves

  • Sound is produced by the energy of vibrating objects.
  • Sound waves are a series of compressions and refractions
  • Sound waves travel through gases, liquids and solids by causing the particles to vibrate and thus cause our eardrums to vibrate.
  • Sound waves move faster in solids than gases because the particles are held together in solids.
  • Reflected sound is called an echo.
  • Sound travels at different spreads In air of different temperatures. This may cause sound waves to be bent of refracted.
  • Sonar is the ...

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