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waves
the study of waves and their properties
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| wave | a disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another without transferring matter. |
| mechanical wave | a wave that only travels through matter |
| medium | the material which a wave travels through. |
| transverse wave | a wave in which disturbance is perpendicular to the direction in the wave travels |
| longitudinal wave | a wave that causes the particles in a medium to move parallel to the direction that wave travels |
| sound wave | a longitudinal wave that can travel only through the matter |
| amplitude | maximum distance that the wave moves from its rest position |
| wavelength | the distance between one point on a wave to the same point on the next wave |
| frequency | the number of times the pattern repeats in a given time |
| pitch | the perception of how high or low a sound seems |