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PS Vocab #2 Qtr. 2
PS Vocab #2 Qtr. 2 Chapter 9 Introduction to Waves
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| wave | a repeating disturbance that transfers energy through matter or space. |
| medium | matter through which a wave travels. |
| mechanical wave | waves that can travel only through matter. There are two types: longitudinal and transverse. |
| transverse wave | where particles in the medium moves back and forth at right angles to the direction that the wave travels. |
| longitudinal wave | where matter in the medium moves back and forth along the same direction that the wave travels. |
| crest | the high points of a transverse wave. |
| trough | are the low points of a transverse wave. |
| compression | the more dense region of a longitudinal wave. |
| rarefaction | the less-dense region of a longitudinal wave |
| wavelength | the distance between one point on a wave and the nearest point just like it. |
| frequency | the number of wavelengths that pass a fixed point each second. |
| period | the amount of time it takes one wavelength to pass a point. |
| amplitude | a measure of the size of the disturbance from a wave. |
| refraction | the bending of a wave caused by a change in its speed as it travels from one medium to another. |
| diffraction | the bending of a wave around an object. |
| interference | the process of two or more waves overlapping and combining to form a new wave. |
| standing wave | a special type of wave pattern that forms when waves equal in wavelength and amplitude but traveling in opposite directions continuously interfere with each other. |
| node | locations where the interfering waves always cancel. |
| resonance | the process by which an object is made to vibrate by absorbing energy at its natural frequencies. |