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Questions and Answers
What is a wave?
What is a wave?
A wave is a disturbance that travels through a medium, transferring energy from one place to another without transferring matter.
What are the two main types of waves?
What are the two main types of waves?
The two main types of waves are mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves.
Give an example of a mechanical wave.
Give an example of a mechanical wave.
Sound waves and water waves are examples of mechanical waves.
Give an example of an electromagnetic wave.
Give an example of an electromagnetic wave.
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Define amplitude.
Define amplitude.
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What is wavelength?
What is wavelength?
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What is frequency?
What is frequency?
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How is the speed of a wave calculated?
How is the speed of a wave calculated?
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What is the speed of sound in air at room temperature?
What is the speed of sound in air at room temperature?
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What is diffraction?
What is diffraction?
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Study Notes
What is a Wave?
- A wave is a disturbance that travels through a medium, transferring energy from one place to another without transferring matter.
Types of Waves
- Mechanical waves: require a medium to travel through, examples include sound waves and water waves.
- Electromagnetic waves: can travel through a vacuum (empty space) and do not require a medium, examples include light waves, radio waves, microwaves, and X-rays.
Properties of Waves
- Amplitude: the maximum displacement from the equilibrium position of a wave.
- Wavelength: the distance between two consecutive points that are in phase with each other (e.g., crest to crest or trough to trough).
- Frequency: the number of complete waves passing a point in one second, measured in hertz (Hz).
- Speed: the rate at which a wave travels through a medium, calculated as the product of wavelength and frequency (speed = wavelength × frequency).
Wave Behaviors
- Reflection: when a wave encounters a boundary or obstacle and bounces back.
- Refraction: the bending of waves as they pass from one medium to another due to a change in their speed.
- Diffraction: the spreading of waves around obstacles or through openings.
- Interference: when two or more waves overlap, resulting in either constructive interference (waves add up) or destructive interference (waves cancel each other out).
Sound Waves
- Sound is a mechanical wave that travels through a medium, usually air.
- It consists of compressions (regions of high pressure) and rarefactions (regions of low pressure).
- The speed of sound depends on the medium through which it travels.
- In air at room temperature, sound travels at approximately 343 meters per second.
Light Waves
- Light is an electromagnetic wave that travels through space.
- It exhibits wave-particle duality, behaving as both a wave and a particle (photon).
- The speed of light in a vacuum is approximately 299,792,458 meters per second.
Wave Equations
- The speed of a wave can be calculated using the equation: speed = wavelength × frequency.
- The frequency of a wave can be calculated using the equation: frequency = speed ÷ wavelength.
- The wavelength of a wave can be calculated using the equation: wavelength = speed ÷ frequency.
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Description
This quiz covers the basics of waves, including their definition, types, and properties such as amplitude and frequency. Understand the difference between mechanical and electromagnetic waves.
