wave

Examples of wave in the following topics:

• Spherical and Plane Waves

  • Constructive interference occurs when waves are completely in phase with each other and amplifies the waves.
  • Since the waves all come from one point source, the waves happen in a spherical pattern.
  • It is not possible in practice to have a true plane wave; only a plane wave of infinite extent will propagate as a plane wave.
  • However, many waves are approximately plane waves in a localized region of space.
  • When waves are produced from a point source, they are spherical waves.

• Longitudinal Waves

  • An example of a longitudinal wave is a sound wave.
  • Some longitudinal waves are also called compressional waves or compression waves.
  • Like transverse waves, longitudinal waves do not displace mass.
  • Longitudinal waves can sometimes also be conceptualized as pressure waves.
  • The most common pressure wave is the sound wave.

• Longitudinal and Transverse Waves

  • Most kinds of waves are transverse waves.
  • But sound waves are not transverse.
  • Sound waves are longitudinal waves.
  • A mathematical description might be that in longitudinal waves, the waves (the disturbances) are along the same axis as the direction of motion of the wave; transverse waves are at right angles to the direction of motion of the wave.
  • In water waves and other transverse waves, the ups and downs are in a different direction from the forward movement of the wave.

• Water Waves

  • Water waves can be commonly observed in daily life, and comprise both transverse and longitudinal wave motion.
  • The uniqueness of water waves is found in the observation that they comprise both transverse and longitudinal wave motion.
  • As long as the waves propagate slower than the wind speed just above the waves, there is an energy transfer from the wind to the waves.
  • Since water waves transport energy, attempts to generate power from them have been made by utilizing the physical motion of such waves.
  • Although larger waves are more powerful, wave power is also determined by wave speed, wavelength, and water density.

• Standing Waves on a String

  • Standing wave occurs due to the interference when transverse waves in strings are reflected and the incident and reflected waves meet.
  • When a transverse wave meets a fixed end, the wave is reflected, but inverted.
  • When either of the two scenarios of wave reflection occurs, the incident wave meets the reflected wave.
  • When the incident wave and reflected wave first meet, both waves have an amplitude is zero.
  • When a transverse wave meets a fixed end, the wave is reflected, but inverted.

• Reflections

  • When transverse waves in strings meet one end, they are reflected, and when the incident wave meets the reflected wave, interference occurs.
  • The wave that occurs due to this motion is called a transverse wave.
  • When a transverse wave meets a fixed end, the wave is reflected, but inverted.
  • When either of the two scenarios of wave reflection occurs, the incident wave meets the reflected wave.
  • To understand how standing waves occur, we can analyze them further: When the incident wave and reflected wave first meet, both waves have an amplitude is zero.

• What is a Standing Wave?

  • Most sound waves, including the musical sounds that actually reach our ears, are not standing waves.
  • Normally, when something makes a wave, the wave travels outward, gradually spreading out and losing strength, like the waves moving away from a pebble dropped into a pond.
  • But what if you could arrange the waves so that reflecting waves, instead of cancelling out the new waves, would reinforce them?
  • Instead, waves would seem to be appearing and disappearing regularly at exactly the same spots, so these trapped waves are called standing waves.
  • A noise is a jumble of sound waves.

• Waves

  • A sea wave is an example of a wave in which water molecules are moving up and down as waves propagate towards the shore.
  • Waves transfer energy not mass.
  • While mechanical waves can be both transverse and longitudinal, all electromagnetic waves are transverse.
  • The description of waves is closely related to their physical origin for each specific instance of a wave process.
  • A brief introduction to the wave equation, discussing wave velocity, frequency, wavelength, and period.

• Transverse Waves

  • Light is an example of a transverse wave.
  • For transverse waves in matter, the displacement of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave.
  • A ripple on a pond and a wave on a string are easily visualized transverse waves.
  • Transverse waves are waves that are oscillating perpendicularly to the direction of propagation.
  • Therefore an electromagnetic wave consists of two transverse waves, visible light being an example of an electromagnetic wave.

• Conditions for Wave Interference: Reflection due to Phase Change

  • Interference is a phenomenon in which two waves superimpose to form a resultant wave of greater or lesser amplitude.
  • Interference is a phenomenon in which two waves superimpose to form a resultant wave of greater or lesser amplitude.
  • Its effects can be observed in all types of waves (for example, light, acoustic waves and water waves).
  • Destructive interference occurs when the crest of one wave meets a trough of another wave.
  • A simple form of wave interference is observed when two waves of the same frequency (also called a plane wave) intersect at an angle , as shown in .