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Ch 15 Wavess
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| wave | A disturbance that transfers energy from place to place |
| energy | The ability to do work or cause change |
| medium | The material through which a wave travels |
| mechanical wave | A wave that requires a medium through which to travel |
| vibration | A repeated back-and-forth or up-and-down motion |
| transverse wave | A wave that moves the medium in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels |
| crest | The highest part of a transverse wave |
| trough | The lowest part of a transverse wave |
| longitudinal wave | A wave that moves a medium in a direction parallel to the direction in which the wave travels |
| compression | The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together |
| rarefaction | The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are far apart |
| amplitude | The maximum distance the particles of a medium move away from their rest positions as a wave passes through the medium |
| wavelength | The distance between two corresponding parts of a wave |
| frequency | The number of complete waves that pass a given point in a certain amount of time |
| hertz | Unit of measurement for frequency |
| reflection | The bouncing back of an object or wave when it hits a surface through which it cannot pass |
| law of reflections | The rule that the angle of reflections equals the angle of incidence |
| refraction | the bending of waves as they enter a new medium at an angle diffraction |
| interference | The interaction between waves that meet |
| constructive interference | The interference that occurs when waves combine to make a wave with a larger amplitude |
| destructive interference | the interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a smaller amplitude |
| standing wave | A wave that appears to stand in one place |
| node | A point of zero amplitude on a standing wave |
| antinode | A point of maximum amplitude on a standing wave |
| resonance | The increase in the amplitude of a vibration that occurs when external vibrations match an object’s natural frequency |
| seismic wave | A wave produced by an earthquake |
| P wave | A longitudinal seismic wave |
| S wave | A transverse seismic wave |
| surface wave | A combination of longitudinal wave and a transverse wave that travels along the surface of a medium |
| tsunami | A huge surface wave on the ocean caused by an underwater earthquake |
| seismograph | An instrument used to detect and measure earthquake waves |