PHYS 1310 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Simple Harmonic Motion, Longitudinal Wave, Heat Capacity
Document Summary
Waves: a wave is a disturbance which travels through a material which is called the medium for the wave. The wave travels but the medium does not. Energy is moved from point a to b but the particles of the medium itself does not. eg. sounds waves. Electromagnetic (light, radio, these waves do not require a medium), It is a traveling disturbance as the particles in the medium are displaced from their equilibrium position as the wave travels through the medium. It carries energy from place to place both kinetic and potential but waves do not carry matter! Transverse: the direction of the disturbance is perpendicular to the direction of the wave. Longitudinal: the direction of the disturbance is parallel to the direction of the wave. However, some waves are a mixture of transverse and longitudinal waves, eg. waves on the surface of water.