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K.L. chapter 20
The energy of Waves
| word | Definition |
|---|---|
| Wave | A periodic disturbance in a solid, liquid, or gas as energy is transmitted through a medium. |
| Medium | A physical environment in which phenomena occur. |
| Transverse Wave | A wave in which the particles of the maedium move perpendicularly to the direction the wave is traveling. |
| Longitudinal wave | a wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of wave motion. |
| Amplitude | The maximum distance that the particles of a wave's medium vibrate from their rest position. |
| Wavelength | The distance from any point on a wave to an identical point on the next wave. |
| Frequency | The number of waves produced in a given amount of time. |
| Wave speed | The speed at which a wave travels through a medium. |
| Reflection | The bouncing back of a ray of light. sound, or heat when the ray hits a surface that it does not go through. |
| Refraction | The bending of a wave as the wave passes between two substances in which the speed of the wave differs. |
| Diffraction | a change in the direction of a wave when the wave finds an obstacle or an edge, such as an opening. |
| Interference | The combination of two or more waves that resluts in a single wave. |
| Standing wave | A pattern of vibration that simulates a wave that is standing still. |
| Resonance | a phenomenon that occurs when two objects naturally vibrate at the same frequency; the sound produced by one object causes the other object to vibrate. |