waves

waves

1. transverse

   • Light and other types of electromagnetic radiation are transverse waves. Water waves and S waves (a type of seismic wave) are also transverse waves. In transverse waves, the vibrations are at right angles to the direction of travel.

2. longitudinal

   • A wave vibrating in the direction of propagation.
     • propagation: the spreading of something into new regions.

3. different waves

   • wave energy
     • wave energy wont ever run out because we will always have waves
     • wave power is unreliable because some waves may not be as strong as others and it may not produce equal amounts of electricity
   • Waves can be described by their amplitude, wavelength and frequency. The speed of a wave can be calculated from its frequency and wavelength.
   • light
   • Waves are vibrations that transfer energy from place to place without matter (solid, liquid or gas) being transferred.

4. Light travels as waves.

5. Some waves must travel through a substance. The substance is known as the medium, and it can be solid, liquid or gas. Sound waves and seismic waves are like this. They must travel through a medium. It is the medium that vibrates as the waves travel through.

   • Other waves do not need to travel through a substance. They may be able to travel through a medium, but they do not have to. Visible light, infrared rays, microwaves and other types of electromagnetic radiation are like this. They can travel through empty space. Electrical and magnetic fields vibrate as the waves travel.

6. amplitude

   • As waves travel, they set up patterns of disturbance. The amplitude of a wave is its maximum disturbance from its undisturbed position. Take care, the amplitude is not the distance between the top and bottom of a wave.

7. wavelength

   • The wavelength of a wave is the distance between a point on one wave and the same point on the next wave. It is often easiest to measure this from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next wave, but it doesn't matter where as long as it is the same point in each wave.

8. frequency

   • The frequency of a wave is the number of waves produced by a source each second. It is also the number of waves that pass a certain point each second. The unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz).

9. How fast do waves travel?

   • The speed of a wave - its wave speed - is related to its frequency and wavelength, according to this equation: wave speed (meter per second) = frequency (hertz) × wavelength (meter)