1. Characteristics of Waves
unit9 Section 3 Notes
Characteristics of Waves

2. Transverse Waves:
An ideal transverse wave has the shape of a sine curve and looks like an “S” lying on its side.
The simplest transverse waves have similar shapes no matter how big they are or what medium they travel through.

3. Parts of Transverse Waves
Crests: highest points of a transverse wave
Troughs: lowest points on a transverse wave
Amplitude: greatest distance that particles in a medium move from their normal position
Distance from the rest position to a crest or to a trough.
Wavelength: distance from one crest to the next or from one trough to the next.
Basically, it is the distance between any 2 successive identical parts of a wave.

4. Diagram of Transverse Waves
crest
crest
trough
trough

5. Parts of Longitudinal Waves
The particles move back & forth (parallel) instead of up & down (perpendicular)
Compressions: crowded areas in a longitudinal wave
Rarefactions: stretched out areas in a longitudinal wave
Wavelength: distance between 2 compressions or between 2 rarefactions

6. Diagram of a longitudinal wave:

7. Wavelength
In equations, wavelength is represented by the Greek letter lambda, λ
Because wavelength is a distance measurement, it is expressed in the SI unit meters.

8. Amplitude and Wavelength: Energy
The larger the amplitude of a wave, the more energy it carries.
Example: Waves of destructive earthquakes have greater amplitudes, and therefore more energy, than minor earthquakes.
The shorter the wavelength of a wave, the more energy it carries.

9. Period
Period: the time it takes one full wavelength of a wave to pass a certain point.
In equations, the period is represented by the symbol T.
Because period is a time measurement, it is expressed in the SI unit seconds (s).

10. Frequency
Frequency: the number of wavelengths that pass a point in a given time interval
The symbol for frequency is f.
SI Unit: Hertz (Hz)
Named after Heinrich Hertz, the scientist who demonstrated existence of electromagnetic waves in
Hertz units measure the number of vibrations per second.
We can hear sounds in the range from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

11. Frequency-Period Equation:

12. Wave Speed

13. Wave Speed Example
The average wavelength in a series of ocean waves is 15.0 m. A wave crest arrives at the shore on average every 10.0 s, so the frequency is Hz. What is the average speed of the waves?
v=f x λ
v= Hz x 15.0 m
v= 1.50 m/s

14. Wave Speed and Medium Speed of a wave depends on the medium:
Sound travels through air at 340 m/s (about 770 miles per hour)
Since sound travels fast in air, you don’t notice a time delay in most situations.
Sound travels three to four times faster in water than in air.
If you swim with your head underwater, you can hear certain sounds very clearly.
Dolphins use sound waves to communicate with one another over long distances underwater.

15. Wave Speed and Medium
Sound waves travel even faster in solids than in air or water.
Sound waves have speeds 15 to 20 times as fast in rock or metal as in air.
Although the speed of a wave depends on the medium, the speed in a given medium is constant; it does not depend on the frequency of the wave.
No matter how fast you create waves on a rope, they still travel at the same speed; it just increases the frequency and decreases the wavelength.

16. Wave Speed and Phases of Matter
Wave speed in gases: a molecule must pass through a lot of empty space before it bumps into another molecule; therefore, waves don’t travel as fast in gases as they do in liquids and solids
Wave speed in liquids: particles are closer together & free to slide past one another & waves move faster
Wave speed in solids: particles are packed very tight together, so vibrations occur very rapidly, so waves travel very fast

17. Speed of Light
Speed of light in empty space: 3.0 x 108 m/s (671,000,000 mi/h) (186,000 mi/s)
The speed of light is a constant that is represented by the lowercase letter “c”.
Light travels slower when it has to pass through a medium like air or water.

18. The Doppler Effect
Have you ever been to a racetrack and noticed how the sound differs as the cars pass around the track?
The motion between the source of waves and the observer creates a change in observed frequency. In the case of sound waves, motion creates a change in pitch.

19. The Doppler Effect
The pitch, how high or low a sound is, is determined by the frequency of the waves.
A high-pitched sound is caused by sound waves of a higher frequency.

20. The Doppler Effect
A.) When an object is not moving, the frequency of the waves is the same at all locations.
B.) When an object is moving, the sound waves are closer in front and farther behind. The person in front hears a higher-pitched sound.

21. The Doppler Effect
So, the Doppler Effect is: an observed change in the frequency of a wave when the source or observer is moving.

22. The Doppler Effect

23. The Doppler Effect
assignment-discovery-doppler-effect-video.htm
hift.html (extra resources)

24. Doppler Effect and Big Bang Theory