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Miss Salley's Wave
Vocabulary for Characteristics of Waves
| Wave terms | Wave definitions |
|---|---|
| wave | a disturbance that transfers energy from place to place |
| energy | the ability to do work |
| medium | material through which a wave travels |
| mechanical wave | a wave that requires a medium through which to travel |
| vibration | a repeated back-and-forth or up-and-down motion |
| transverse wave | a wave that moves the medium in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels |
| crest | the highest part of a transverse wave |
| trough | the lowest part of a transverse wave |
| longitudinal wave | a wave that moves the medium parallel to the direction in which the wave travels |
| compression | the part of the longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together |
| rarefaction | the part of the longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are far apart |
| surface wave | a wave that occurs at the surface between two mediums |
| reflection | the bouncing back of a wave when it hits a surface through which it cannot pass |
| angle of incidence | the angle between an incoming wave and an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the new medium |
| angle of reflection | the angle between a reflected wave and an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the new medium |
| refraction | the bending of waves as they enter a different medium |
| diffraction | the bending of waves around a barrier |
| interference | the interaction between waves that meet |
| constructive interference | the interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a larger amplitude |
| destructive interference | the interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a smaller amplitude |
| standing wave | a wave that appears to stand in one place, even though it is really two waves interfering as they pass through each other |
| node | a point of zero amplitude on a standing wave |
| antinode | a point of maximum amplitude on a standing wave |
| resonance | the increase in the amplitude of vibration that occurs when external vibrations match the object's natural frequency |
| amplitude | the maximum distance the particles of a medium move away from their rest positions as a wave passes through the medium |
| wavelength | the distance between two corresponding parts of a wave |
| frequency | the number of complete waves that pass a given point in a certain amount of time |
| hertz(Hz) | unit of measurement for frequency |
| seismic wave | a wave produced by an earthquake |
| primary wave | a longitudinal seismic wave |
| secondary wave | a transverse seismic wave |
| tsunami | surface wave on the ocean caused by an underwater earthquake |
| seismograph | instrument used to detect and measure earthquakes |
Created by:
cmsalley
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