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Waves Vocabulary
Vocabulary list
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Mechanical wave | waves that require a medium |
| Electromagnetic wave | a wave that travels through empty space |
| wave | a traveling disturbance involving the transfer of energy from place to place |
| medium | the material through which a wave travels |
| Trough | Lowest point in a transverse wave |
| Crest | Highest point of transverse wave |
| Wavelength | The distance between two identical points on the wave; like crest to crest or trough to trough. |
| Compression | Area that is squeezed together in a longitudinal wave |
| Rarefaction | Part of the longitudinal wave that is spread out |
| vibration | movement that repeats itself from side to side or from top to bottom. |
| amplitude | the maximum distance from the rest position. The higher the higher the wave the higher the amplitude. The lower the wave the lower the amplitude. |
| energy | ability to do work |
| transverse wave | Waves in which particles vibrate in an up-and-down motion |
| longitudinal wave. | the particles of the medium vibrate back and forth along the path that the wave moves |
| frequency | number of waves that pass a point in a certain amount of time. The shorter the frequency the faster the wave travels. The longer the frequency the slower the wave travels. |
| parallel | the direction the medium travels with a longitudinal wave. |
| right angles | the direction the medium travels with a transverse wave. |
| Hertz | the unit for the frequency of the wave |
| Period | time required for a complete wave to pass through a point. |