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IB Physics Vocab
Section: Oscillations and Waves
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Displacement (for waves) | distance a particle moves in a particular direction from its mean (equilibrium) position |
| Amplitude | maximum displacement from the mean position |
| Frequency (f) | number of oscillations per unit time65 |
| Period (T) | time taken for one complete oscillation (cycle) (OR: time taken for one cycle to pass a given point) |
| Phase Difference | difference in phase between two points |
| Simple Harmonic Motion | motion that takes place when the acceleration of an object is proportional to its displacement from its equilibrium position and is always directed toward its equilibrium position (NOTE: this motion is defined by the equation a = -ω2x) |
| Damping | involves a force that is always in the opposite direction to the direction of motion of the oscillating particle (NOTE: this force is a dissipative force) |
| Critical Damping | when a resistive force is applied to an oscillating system that causes the particle to return to zero displacement in a minimum amount of time |
| Natural Frequency of Vibration | when a system is displaced from equilibrium and allowed to oscillate freely, it will do so at its natural frequency of vibration |
| Forced Oscillations | a system may be forced to oscillate at any given frequency by an outside driving force that is applied to it |
| Resonance | a transfer of energy in which a system is subject to an oscillating force that matches the natural frequency of the system resulting in a large amplitude of vibration |
| Wave Pulse | single oscillation or disturbance in a medium |
| Continuous Progressive (Traveling) Wave | series of periodic pulses (NOTE:involves a transfer of energy) (NOTE: each point on the wave has the same amplitude) |
| Transverse Wave | wave in which the direction of motion of the energy transfer (the wave) is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the particles of the medium (NOTE: light waves are transverse) (NOTE: transverse waves cannot be propagated in gases) |
| Longitudinal Wave | wave in which the direction of motion of the energy transfer (the wave) is parallel to the direction of motion of the particles of the medium (NOTE: sound waves are longitudinal) |
| Wavefront | collection of neighboring points on a wave that are in phase |
| Ray | line drawn perpendicular to a wavefront indicating the direction of motion of the energy transfer |
| Crest | top of a transverse wave |
| Trough | bottom of a transverse wave |
| Compression | area of high pressure in a longitudinal wave |
| Rarefaction | area of low pressure (expansion) in a longitudinal wave |
| Wavelength (λ) | shortest distance along the wave between two points in phase with one another (OR: distance traveled by the wave in one period) |
| Wave Speed (v) | speed of transfer of the energy of the wave |
| Intensity (I) | power received per unit area (NOTE: for a wave, its intensity is proportional to the square of its amplitude) |
| Law of Reflection | The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection when both angles are measured with respect to the normal line |
| Snell’s Law | The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is a constant, for a given frequency. |
| Refractive Index (Index of Refraction) (n) | a. the ratio of the speed of the wave in the refracted medium to the speed of the wave in the incident medium b. the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction |
| Diffraction | the bending of a wave around an obstacle or the spreading of a wave through an opening (NOTE: diffraction is only noticeable when the size of the opening is smaller than or on the same order of the size of the wavelength) |
| Principle of Superposition | When two waves meet, the resultant displacement is the vector sum of the displacements of the component waves. |
| Constructive Interference | superposition of two waves which are in phase with each other |
| Destructive Interference | superposition of two waves which are out of phase with each other |
| Path Difference | difference in the distances two waves must travel from their sources to a given point |
| Standing (stationary) wave | resultant wave formed when two waves of equal amplitude and frequency traveling in opposite directions in the same medium interfere (NOTE: does not involve a transfer of energy) (NOTE: points on the wave have varying amplitudes) |
| Node | locations of constant complete destructive interference on a standing wave |
| Antinode | locations of maximum constructive interference on a standing wave |
| Fundamental (First Harmonic) | lowest frequency mode of vibration of a standing wave98 |
| Doppler Effect | The change of frequency of a wave due to the movement of the source or the observer relative to the medium of wave transmission. |
| Resolution | ability to distinguish between two sources of light |
| Rayleigh Criterion | When the central maximum of one diffraction pattern overlaps the first minimum of a second diffraction pattern, the two sources are “just resolved.” |
| Polarized Light | light in which the electric field vector vibrates in one plane only |
| Brewster’s Law | When light is incident at such an angle that the reflected and transmitted rays are perpendicular and the reflected ray is totally plane polarized, then the index of refraction of the substance is equal to the tangent of the angle of incidence. |
| Polarizer | device that produces plane polarized light from an unpolarized beam |
| Analyzer | polarizer used to detect polarized light |
| Malus’ Law | the transmitted intensity of polarized light is equal to the product of the incident intensity times the square of the cosine of the angle between the direction of the analyzer and the direction of the electric field vibration of the polarized light |
| Optically Active Substance | one that rotates the plane of polarization of the light that passes through it (OR: one that changes the plane in which the electric field vector of the light vibrates) |
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mikeyWs4509
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