Ch 10 : properties of waves
What are waves ?
- Waves are a way of transferring energy from place to place with no matter being
transferred.
Example : Waves are produced if we drop a stone into a pond. The circular wavefronts
spread out from the point of impact, carrying energy in all directions, but the water in
the pond does not move from the center to the edges :
What are wavefronts ?
- A wavefront is a line where all the vibrations are in phase and the same distance
from the source.
- Wavefronts are created by overlapping lots of different waves
● Transverse waves
- You can produce waves by using a long spring or rope .
- If you move one end of a spring from side to side you will see waves traveling
through it.
- The energy carried by these waves moves along the spring from one end to the
other
- If you look closely you can see that the coils of the spring are vibrating (shaking)
across the direction in which the energy is moving :
A transverse wave is one that vibrates, or oscillates, at right angles to the
direction in which the energy or wave is moving.
- Examples of transverse waves :
1. light waves
2. waves traveling on the surface of water.
● Longitudinal waves
- If you push and pull the end of a spring in a direction parallel to its axis
- you can again see energy traveling along it
- the coils of the spring are vibrating in directions that are along its length
A longitudinal wave is one in which the vibrations, or oscillations, are along the
direction in which the energy or wave is moving.
Examples of longitudinal waves :
1. sound waves.
Describing waves
- The terms used when describing a wave are : wavelength ,amplitude and
frequency , period :
1. Amplitude :
- When a wave moves through a substance, its particles will move from their
equilibrium (resting position).
- The maximum movement of particles from their resting or equilibrium position
is called its amplitude (A)
2. Wavelength
- The distance between a particular point on a wave and the same point on the next
wave (for example, from crest to crest) is called the wavelength (λ).
3. Frequency
- If the source that is creating a wave vibrates quickly it will produce a large
number of waves each second
- If it vibrates more slowly it will produce fewer waves each second.
- The number of waves produced each second by a source, or the number passing a
particular point each second, is called the frequency of the wave (f).
- Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz).
- The above figure shows how many waves per second we have
- We can say we have a wave (full wave ) if it consists of a crest , trough and it ends
at the starting point .
4. Time period
- The time it takes for a source to produce one wave is called the time period of the
wave (T) .
- It is related to the frequency (f) of a wave by the equation :
1
frequency, f (Hz) =
time period , T (s)
1
f (Hz) =
T
The wave equation
- There is a relationship between the wavelength (λ), the frequency (f) and the
wave speed (v) that is true for all waves :
wave speed = frequency × wavelength → v=f×λ
- The speed of wave increase when we incense the frequency
- The wavelength decrease when we increase the frequency
THE RIPPLE TANK
- We can study the behavior of water waves using a ripple tank.
What is the ripple tank ?
A ripple tank is a shallow glass tank of water used to demonstrate the basic properties
of waves. It is a specialized form of a wave tank.
- When the motor is turned on, the wooden bar vibrates creating a series of ripples
or wavefronts on the surface of the water
- A light placed above the tank creates patterns of the water waves on the floor
- By observing the patterns we can see how the water waves are behaving
WAVELENGTH AND FREQUENCY
- The wavelength inverse proportion to frequency
- If we increase the frequency the wavelength will decrease while the wave speed
will not change .
- The wave speed doesn't change because it depends on the medium .
REFLECTION
- All waves can be reflected.
- The waves are reflected from the barrier at the same angle as they strike it.
(The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. )
REFRACTION
- The pencil in Figure is straight but it seems to bend at the surface of the
water.
- This happens because light waves in water travel more slowly than light
waves in air.
- This change in speed as they leave the water causes the light waves to
change direction. This change in direction is called refraction
- All waves – light waves, sound waves, water waves – can be refracted.
THE DOPPLER EFFECT
- If the police car does not move , the two people will hear the same sound .
- If the car is moving, the wavefronts are no longer evenly spaced.
- Ahead of the car the wavefronts will be compressed as the car is moving in this
direction.
- The waves will have a shorter wavelength and a higher frequency
- Person B therefore hears a sound that has a higher pitch than when the car was
stationary
- Behind the car the waves are stretched out so person A hears a sound with a
longer wavelength and lower frequency – that is, the pitch appears to have
decreased.
These apparent changes in frequency, which occur when a source of waves is moving, is
called the Doppler effect and is a property of all waves
