Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Waves - Physics
- Progressive Waves
- Mechanical
- Requires a medium to travel through (e.g. Sound,
surface water waves, waves on a string,
earthquake waves etc.)
- Electromagnetic
- Radio waves
- All EM waves are
transverse in nature
- Visible light
- Microwaves
- Transverse
- Oscillations are perpendicular to the
direction of wave propagation
- Examples include waves on a
string, microwaves,
earthquake S waves
- Longitudinal
- Oscillations are parallel to the
direction of wave propagation
- Examples include sound waves
and earthquake P waves
- Definitions
- Displacement (x) of a particle is its
distance and direction from its
equilibrium position
- Amplitude (A) is the maximum
displacement from the equilibrium position
- Frequency is the number of oscillations
passing a point in the wave per second
- Period (T) is the time for one
whole oscillation (one cycle)
- Phase difference is the fraction of a cycle
difference between the vibrations of two
particles
- Wavelength is the least distance between
adjacent which are in phase
- Useful equations
- Phase difference = (distance between two points on the
wave / wavelength) x 360 (for a displacement distance
graph)
- Phase difference = (time between the two points on the
wave/time period) x 360 (for a displacement-time graph)
- Wave speed = frequency x
wavelength
- Refractive index = speed of light in
a vacuum / speed of light in the
medium
- Refraction
- When waves pass from low to high refractive index
(n < n'), they slow down and are refracted towards
the normal
- When waves pass from high to low refractive index (n
> n'), they speed up and are refracted away from the
normal
- Snell's law: n1 sin