IPC Vocabulary Chapter 9

Wave Types

• Longitudinal Wave: Matter moves back and forth in the same direction as the wave travels.
• Transverse Wave: Matter moves perpendicularly to the wave direction, characterized by crests (high points) and troughs (low points).
• Mechanical Wave: Requires a medium (solid, liquid, gas) to travel through, cannot propagate in a vacuum.

Wave Properties

• Wave: Defined as a repeating disturbance that transfers energy through space or matter.
• Medium: The substance or material that carries the wave.
• Amplitude: Indicates the disturbance size of a wave, correlating with energy carried; higher amplitude means more energy.

Wave Measurements

• Frequency: The number of wavelengths that pass a fixed point each second, measured in hertz (Hz).
• Period: The time it takes for one wavelength to pass a point, expressed in seconds.
• Wavelength: The distance between two identical points on consecutive waves, affecting wave frequency and speed.

Wave Phenomena

• Compression: Areas of high density in a longitudinal wave, where particles are closely packed.
• Rarefaction: Areas of low density in a longitudinal wave, where particles are spread out.
• Diffraction: The bending of waves around obstacles or when passing through narrow openings.
• Refraction: The bending of waves when they change speed as they move into a different medium.

Wave Interactions

• Interference: Occurs when two or more waves overlap and combine, resulting in a new wave pattern.
• Node: Points in a standing wave where interfering waves cancel each other out, leading to no movement.

Special Wave Concepts

• Crest: The peak of a transverse wave.
• Trough: The lowest point of a transverse wave.
• Standing Wave: A stationary wave pattern formed by interference of two waves traveling in opposite directions with equal wavelength and amplitude.
• Resonance: The process by which an object vibrates at its natural frequency due to energy absorption.