Wave Notes By Mr. Baughman

Mechanical Waves Must travel through a material (matter) substance This is called the medium There motion can be modeled using simple harmonic motion This is know as a sinusoidal Wave

First Type Transverse wave: the displacement of the medium is perpendicular to the direction of the wave

Second Type Longitudinal wave: the displacement of the medium is parallel to the direction of the wave Follow the blue dot Direction of motion

Wave Properties Wave speed is notated with c It is determined by the properties of the medium Key point: Waves transport energy without transporting matter Not all waves are mechanical, examples are electromagnetic waves and particle waves

Properties cont. These waves are periodic (Simple Harmonic Motion) Meaning they are repetitive or cyclic in pattern Three terms to know –Period (  ): time for one cycle –Frequency (f ): number of cycles per second –Amplitude (A): maximum displacement from equilibrium

Since it’s a circle why not. We can think of it as a “circle of reference” then we can describe its motion with angular quantities  t (measured in radians per second) Thus we say x = cos  see below) if   t then, x = A cos  t   x  A cos 