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Sound and Light Ch 1
Vocabulary terms for Sound and Light, Chapter 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Wave | A disturbance that transfers energy from place to place |
| Energy | The ability to do work |
| Medium | 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 |
| Longitudial wave | A wave that moves the medium 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 |
| Surface Wave | A wave that occurs at the surface between two mediums |
| 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. |
| reflection | The bouncing back of a wave when it hits a surface through which it cannot pass |
| angle of incidence | The angle between an incoming wave and an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the barrier or new medium |
| angle of reflection | The angle between a reflected wave and an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the barrier |
| refraction | The bending of waves as they enter a different medium |
| diffraction | the bending of waves around a barrier |
| interference | the interaction between waves that meet |
| constructive interference | the interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a larger amplitude |
| destructive interference | the interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a smaller amplitude |
| standing wave | a wave that appears to stand in one place, even though it is really two waves interfering as they pass through each other |
| 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 vibration that occurs when external vibrations match the object's natural frequency. |