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level: Describing waves

Questions and Answers List

level questions: Describing waves

QuestionAnswer
Oscillations that transfer energy without transferring matter.Waves
What is transferred by waves?Energy and information.
Physical substance that occupies space and has mass.Matter.
What does not transfer with waves?Matter.
Small waves or undulations on the surface of water.Ripples.
What transfers energy when an object is thrown into water?Ripples.
Waves that travel along the interface between two different media, such as water and air.Surface Waves
How do water particles move when waves travel across the surface?Water particles move up and down.
The principle that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.Conservation of Matter
Why don't we observe matter being transferred by water waves?If matter were transferred by water waves, we'd soon see less water in one place and more in another.
Why don't we observe matter being transferred by sound waves?if sound waves transferred matter, we'd see all the air moving away from a source of noise to leave a vacuum.
Waves in which the medium moves in the same direction as the wave.Compression Waves
How do air particles move when sound waves pass through them?Backwards and forwards, always returning to their original position.
Waves in which particles vibrate perpendicular to the direction of wave travel.Transverse Waves
In what direction do particles vibrate in transverse waves?Perpendicular to the direction of wave travel.
Waves in which particles vibrate parallel to the direction of wave travel.Longitudinal Waves
What are the two main types of waves?Transverse and longitudinal waves.
Regular, repetitive movements of particles around an equilibrium position.Oscillations.
What are the vibrations in transverse waves called?Oscillations.
The path along which energy is transmitted from one point to another.Direction of Energy Transfer
In transverse waves, what is the relationship between the direction of particle vibration and the direction of energy transfer?Perpendicular.
At an angle of 90 degrees to a given line, plane, or surface.Perpendicular
At what angle do particles vibrate relative to the direction of wave travel in transverse waves?90 degrees or perpendicular.
The range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.Electromagnetic Spectrum
Give an example of a type of wave that is transverse.Electromagnetic spectrum waves.
Waves in which particles oscillate parallel to the direction of energy transfer.Longitudinal Waves
How do particles oscillate in longitudinal waves?Parallel to the direction of energy transfer.
The region in a longitudinal wave where particles are crowded together.Compression
What happens to particles in a longitudinal wave during compression?They are crowded together.
The region in a longitudinal wave where particles are spread apart.Rarefaction.
What is the spreading out of particles in a longitudinal wave called?Rarefaction.
Waves generated by earthquakes or other earth tremors.Seismic Waves
What are examples of longitudinal waves?Sound waves and seismic primary waves.
The maximum displacement of a point on a wave from its undisturbed position.Amplitude
What is the amplitude of a wave?The maximum displacement from the undisturbed position.
The distance from a point on one wave to the corresponding point on the next wave.Wavelength
What is the wavelength of a wave?The distance between two corresponding points on consecutive waves.
The number of waves passing a point per second.Frequency
What does frequency measure?The number of waves passing a point per second.
The time it takes for one complete wave oscillation.Period
What is the period of a wave?The time taken for one complete wave cycle.
The speed at which a wave propagates through a medium.Wave Velocity
What is wave velocity?The speed at which a wave moves through a medium.
Imaginary lines representing the crest of a wave.Wavefronts
What are wavefronts?Imaginary lines representing the crest of a wave.
The highest point of a wave.Crest
What does each wavefront line represent?The crest of a single wave.