AQA Physics - P6: Waves

What Are Waves?

• Waves transfer energy without moving any matter.
• When waves travel through a medium, the particles oscillate but remain in the same place therefore, energy has been transferred without transferring matter.
• For example, if a ping-pong ball is dropped in a calm pool of water, ripples form on the surface, but the ball remains in the same place.
• Key Terms
• Amplitude - Maximum displacement of a point on the wave from the rest position.
• Wavelength - Distance between the same point on two adjacent waves.
• Frequency - Number of complete waves passing a certain point per second. Measured in hertz (Hz)
• Period - Time for one full cycle of a wave. Can be found by dividing 1 by the frequency. (Equation given in exam)