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| soundwaves | by mahalie on Flickr |
| Two Types of Waves: - Longitudinal wave - the motion of the medium is parallel to the direction of the wave
- Transverse wave- wave that moves the medium in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels.
A sound wave is a longitudinal wave in an elastic medium producing an audible sensation.
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| A medium is the
material through which a wave travels.
Water is an example of a medium since a wave can move through
it. |
| ~ Mauritius ~ | by KhayaL on Flickr |
| - Crest is the highest part of a transverse wave.
- Trough of a wave is the lowest part.
- Compression is the part of a longitudinal
wave where the particles of the medium are close together.
- Amplitude is the maximum distance the
particles of a medium move away from their rest positions as a wave passes
through the medium.
- Wavelength is the the distance between the crest of one wave
and the crest of the next.
- Rarefraction is the bending of waves as they
enter a different medium. Sound waves in this picture would bend as they went through water and air.
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| SAF#2 | by Roby Ferrari on Flickr |
| - Frequency of a sound is the number of complete waves that
pass a given point in a certain amount of time.
- More the number of waves per second, higher the pitch of the sound.
- A Hertz (HZ) is the unit of measurement for
frequency.
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