Wave Definitions
I highly recommend visiting Professor Dan Russell at Penn State for help visualizing this:
www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html
These are the two main types of waves studied in introductory physics courses. Trans means across, and a TRANSverse wave involves moving an oscillator across a medium so that it causes a wave moving perpendicular (across) the direction the particles are moving. The distance between peaks on the wave is called the wavelength (lambda) and the time between peaks is called the period (T). The height of the peaks is called amplitude, and like in simple harmonic motion, is related to energy. (t, x) and (d,x) graphs are shown at left, with the wavelength and period labeled on them.
The other kind of wave, LONGitudinal, has an oscillator vibrating so that it vibrates aLONG the medium, causing it to bunch up and spread out. If we plot a graph of density of the medium, we see it looks a lot like the position graphs for a transverse wave. Longitudinal waves are important because this is how sound travels.
Wave Definitions
I highly recommend visiting Professor Dan Russell at Penn State for help visualizing this:
www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html
These are the two main types of waves studied in introductory physics courses. Trans means across, and a TRANSverse wave involves moving an oscillator across a medium so that it causes a wave moving perpendicular (across) the direction the particles are moving. The distance between peaks on the wave is called the wavelength (lambda) and the time between peaks is called the period (T). The height of the peaks is called amplitude, and like in simple harmonic motion, is related to energy. (t, x) and (d,x) graphs are shown at left, with the wavelength and period labeled on them.
The other kind of wave, LONGitudinal, has an oscillator vibrating so that it vibrates aLONG the medium, causing it to bunch up and spread out. If we plot a graph of density of the medium, we see it looks a lot like the position graphs for a transverse wave. Longitudinal waves are important because this is how sound travels.