PHYS 3- Final Exam Guide - Comprehensive Notes for the exam ( 96 pages long!)
Document Summary
Mechanical wave = disturbance that travels through a medium. Medium = the material/substance through which a mechanical wave travels. Transverse wave = a wave in which the displacements of the medium are perpendicular/transverse to the direction of travel of the wave along the medium. Wave pulse = producing a single wiggle/pulse that travels along the length of the string. Longitudinal wave = a wave in which the motions of the particles of the medium are back and forth along the same direction that the wave travels. Sometimes, the displacement of the medium can have both longitudinal and transversal displacements. Wave speed = the definite speed through the medium at which the disturbance. Determined by the mechanical properties of the medium travels/propagates: only the pattern of the wave travels, not the medium itself, waves transport energy, but not matter, from one region to another.
