Waves refer to the transfer or flow of energy from one point to another

without the transfer of matter. It appears in the form of oscillations when they
pass through any medium (in case of water waves or sound waves) or
without any medium (in case of electromagnetic waves). They are present
around us in both visible and invisible forms. Some of the types of waves are
radio waves, sound waves etc.

An individual is completely dependent on a wide range of waves for wireless

communications. When you call your friend then the entire communication on
the phone happens through the transmission of waves. The communication
from the sender to the receiver appears in the form of a waveform. Your
phone converts the received voice signal into an electrical signal. Later,
these electric signal travels either wirelessly or via copper wires to the
2
receiver through an antennae. In this way, waves help in communication
between people.
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Types of Waves:

Waves occur in various forms. There are three types of Waves

● Mechanical Waves

. Transverse waves

. Longitudinal waves

● Electromagnetic waves

1) Mechanical waves

The mechanical waves are seen as a propagation of a specific disturbance

that travels in a material medium. This type of wave is a result of the
oscillation of matter. In this case, the transfer of energy happens through a
medium.
The oscillating material performs motion at a stationary point. There is little
translational motion involved in this type of propagation. The distance
covered by the propagation of a wave is determined by the transmission
medium.
This wave is the outcome of the continuous periodic movement of the
particles. In this type of wave, the entire disturbance that comprises of
momentum and energy is passed from one wave-particle to its immediate
next particle in the medium. Mechanical waves do not possess the ability to
pass through the vacuum. There is no mass transfer possible during the
movement of wave particles.

Some of the examples of a mechanical wave are the “vibration of a string”,

tsunami waves, earthquake waves, ultrasounds, waves in slink, oscillations in
spring etc.

Mechanical waves are measured by dividing displacement by the wavelength.

When the dimensionless factor is below one, it generates harmonic effects.
When this factor increases from one, then it becomes the reason for
turbulence. It is seen in the form of waves breaking on the beach.

There are two types of Mechanical waves, as Transverse waves and

Longitudinal waves

a) Transverse Waves

In this type of wave, the medium vibrates to and fro at right angles to the
direction of propagation of wave/energy. In other words, when the energy
particles and the wave particles form a perpendicular angle to each other,
then it is called a transverse wave. One of the best examples of transverse
waves is radio waves, microwaves, ocean waves, wiggling string and
polarized waves.

b) Longitudinal Wave:
In a longitudinal wave, the medium or the channel moves in the same
direction with respect to the wave. Here, the movement of the particles is
from left to right and forces other particles to vibrate.
It can also be put as the displacement of the medium occurs in the direction
of the movement of the wave. Some of the examples of this type of
longitudinal wave are sound waves, and pressure wave.

2) Electromagnetic Waves

In electromagnetic waves, there is no need for the presence of any medium

for the propagation of the wave. In other words, electromagnetic waves travel
from one place to another in a vacuum and at the same speed. As in these
waves, periodic changes take place in the magnetic fields; they are called as
electromagnetic waves.
Electromagnetic waves are formed by the combination of magnetic and
electric fields. The light and the color that you see are due to the presence of
electromagnetic waves. Some of the important examples of electromagnetic
waves are: Microwaves, Lightwaves, thermal radiation, X-rays, Radio waves
and Ultraviolet waves

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Properties of Electromagnetic Waves:

There are some important attributes of electromagnetic waves as mentioned

below:

These waves travel with the speed of light.

They can be polarized.

They show a transverse nature.

They carry momentum

Properties of Waves

A wave is characterized by different properties of it. These properties are

amplitude, frequency, wavelength, velocity and period. To get more clarity on
these elements, let us understand each of them one by one.

Amplitude

The amplitude of a wave is measured in meters. It denotes the energy

contained in the wave. The wave that has more amplitude is more powerful
and energetic. The amplitude of a wave is the maximum displacement or the
total distance travelled by a wave in the medium.
Wavelength

Wavelength is calculated as the distance between two successive troughs or

crests of the wave. It is measured in meters. Wavelength of a wave is
denoted by lambda and it is equal to the velocity of a wave (in meters/sec)
divided by the wave frequency (in Hertz).

Time Period

Time Period is the total time that a wave takes to complete a single cycle. It is
measured in seconds. It is represented by the alphabet ‘T’. The inverse of the
time period is the frequency of a wave.

Velocity

The velocity of any wave is the speed at which a wave travels in one medium.
It is measured in meters/seconds. Velocity is calculated as the product of
wave frequency and the wavelength, or division of wavelength and the
period.

Wave Speed Formula

Wave speed is viewed as the distance that any wave travels at a specified
amount of time. It implies the number of meters that a wave travels in every
second.

Wave speed is also related to wave frequency and wavelength. It can be

understood by the following equation:

Speed = Frequency x Wavelength

When you know the values of the frequency and the wavelength, you can
easily calculate wave speed with this formula.

Time period = 1 / Frequency

Introduction to sound waves

Sound needs a medium to propagate. The matter or material through which

sound propagates is called a medium. When particles vibrate about their
mean positions, it pushes a region of compressed air, creating a region of
high pressure, followed by a region of low pressure as the particle retreats to
its mean position. The sound wave propagates by compressions and
rarefactions of particles in a medium. Sound propagation can be visualised
as the propagation of pressure variations in the medium.

Wavelength
The distance between two successive crests or troughs (or) successive
compressions and rarefactions is called as wavelength (λ). The SI unit of
wavelength is metre (m).

Time period
Time taken by two consecutive compressions or rarefactions to cross a fixed
point is called a Time period (T). The SI unit of time in seconds (s).

Frequency
The number of compressions or rarefactions per unit time is called frequency
(𝛎).
The SI unit of frequency is Hertz. The SI unit is Hertz (s−1)

Speed (v), wavelength (λ) and frequency (𝛎) are related as v=λ𝛎

Amplitude
The magnitude of disturbance in a medium on either side of the mean value
is called an amplitude (A).
As shown in the figure below, the unit of amplitude will be the density or
pressure. Distance between mean position and crest (maximum
displacement).
 Amplitude (A)

Pitch
The number of compressions or rarefactions per unit time. Directly
proportional to frequency.

Representation of low and high pitch

Volume
Volume or loudness of a sound depends on the amplitude. The force with
which an object is made to vibrate gives the loudness.

Higher force → higher amplitude → louder sound

The amount of sound energy flowing per unit time through a unit area is
called the intensity of sound.
Reflection of Sound Waves
Like light, sound also follows laws of reflection, it bounces off the surface of
solid and liquid.

Echo
The phenomenon where a sound produced is heard again due to reflection is
called an echo.

E.g: Clapping or shouting near a tall building or a mountain.

Sonar and Radar

SONAR – Sound Navigation And Ranging.

It is a technique that uses sound or ultrasonic waves to measure distance.
The human range of hearing is 20Hz- 20kHz.

What are Ultrasonic sounds?

Ultrasonic sounds are high-frequency sound having a frequency greater than
20kHz (inaudible range).

Applications of Ultrasound
(i) Scanning images of human organs
(ii) Detecting cracks in metal blocks
(iii) Cleaning parts that are hard to reach
(iv) Navigating, communicating or detecting objects on or under the surface
of the water (SONAR).

Sonar consists of a transmitter and detector mounted on a boat or ship. The

transmitter sends ultrasonic sound waves to the seabed which gets reflected
back and picked up by the detector. Knowing the speed of sound in water,
distance can be measured using: 2d=v×t. This method is called echo-
location or echo ranging.
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Reverberation
Persistence of sound because of multiple reflections is called reverberation.
Examples: Auditorium and a big hall.
Excessive reverberation is undesirable and to reduce this, halls and
auditoriums have sound-absorbing materials on the walls and roofs. E.g:
Fibreboard and rough plaster.

Compression
Compression is that part of longitudinal wave in which the medium of
particles are closer and there is momentary decrease in volume of medium.

Rarefaction
Rarefaction is that part of longitudinal wave in which the medium of particles
apart and there is momentary increase in volume of medium.

Reflection of light
Reflection of light:
● Light reflects off a surface when it hits it.
● The angle at which light hits a surface is called the angle of incidence (i).
● The angle at which the light reflects off the surface is called the angle of

reflection (r).
Laws of reflection of light:
● According to the laws of reflection, the angle of incidence (i) is equal to

the angle of reflection (r)

● the incident ray, reflected ray and the normal to the surface at the point

of incidence all lie in the same plane.

● The angle of incidence and the angle of reflection are measured from the

normal.

Refraction:
● Simple Definition: Refraction occurs when light passes through a medium

with a different refractive index.

● Detailed Definition: The phenomenon of bending of wave when it goes

from one medium to another as they have different velocity in different

mediums. .
● The refractive index (n) is a measure of how much a medium bends light.

Reflection:
● Reflection is the bouncing of light off a surface.
 ● The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
Normal:
● A normal is a line perpendicular to a surface at a given point.

Reflective index:
● The refractive index (n) is a measure of how much a medium bends light.
● The formula for refractive index is n = c/v where c is the velocity of light

in vacuum and v is the velocity of light in the medium.

Angle of reflection and incidence:

● The angle of incidence (i) is the angle between the incident ray and the

normal to the surface.

● The angle of reflection (r) is the angle between the reflected ray and the

normal to the surface.

Things that effect bending of light:

● Density and temperature of the medium,
● The wavelength of the light,
● The angle at which the light hits the surface,
● The refractive index of the medium.
● color effects bending of light. Violet bends the most and red bends the

least

Formulas:

R.I = sin i / sin r

R.I = speed of light in air or vacuum / speed of light in medium
T = 1/f
v = fλ

Important points

● when light enters a denser medium velocity will decrease

● when sound enters a denser medium velocity will increase
● frequency only changes when source changes
● as velocity increases wavelength also increases
● when density increases light will bend towards the normal

Solved example:
The angle of refraction in a glass block of refractive index 1.5 is 19° .
Calculate the angle of incidence.

Step 1: Given data

. The angle of refraction in the air for a ray of light is 19

. The ray travels through the glass with a refractive index of 1.5

Step 2: Calculating the angle of incidence

Since refractive index of glass = sin i / sin r

1.5 = sin i / sin (19)

sin i = 1.5 • sin (19)

i = sin^-1 (0.4883)

= 29.23

Mirror Formula

In the field of optics, magnification means a qualification to compare the

image size with the object size. This allows you to know about the image in
terms of how small or large is a particular image formed. It can be defined as
the ratio of the object’s height and the image’s height. Magnification is
generally denoted by m

Mirror formula is = 1/f = 1/v + 1/u

V and u are the distance of the image and object from a pole of a mirror,
respectively and is the primary focus distance.

magnification is depicted as m = -v/u for a concave mirror. A convex mirror is

positive

Waves are disturbances that transfer energy without the physical transfer of
matter. There are two main types of waves: longitudinal waves and
transverse waves.
 . Longitudinal Waves:
Longitudinal waves are waves that oscillate in the same direction as the wave
travels. This means that the particles of the medium through which the wave
is traveling oscillate parallel to the direction of wave propagation. Sound
waves are an example of longitudinal waves.
Parts of a longitudinal wave:

a) Compression: This is the part of the wave where the particles are closest
together, resulting in a region of high pressure.
b) Rarefaction: This is the part of the wave where the particles are farthest
apart, resulting in a region of low pressure.
c) Wavelength: The wavelength of a longitudinal wave is the distance
between two successive compressions or rarefactions.
d) Amplitude: The amplitude of a longitudinal wave is the distance between
the rest position of a particle and its maximum displacement.

Examples of longitudinal waves:

a) Sound waves: Sound waves are longitudinal waves that require a medium
to travel through. When sound waves travel through a medium, they cause
the particles of the medium to vibrate parallel to the direction of wave
propagation.
b) Shock waves: Shock waves are also longitudinal waves. They are
produced when an object moves faster than the speed of sound through a
medium.

. Transverse Waves:
Transverse waves are waves that oscillate perpendicular to the direction of
wave propagation. This means that the particles of the medium through
which the wave is traveling oscillate perpendicular to the direction of wave
propagation. Light waves are an example of transverse waves.
Parts of a transverse wave:

a) Crest: This is the highest point on the wave, where the particles of the
medium are displaced the most.
b) Trough: This is the lowest point on the wave, where the particles of the
medium are displaced the least.
c) Wavelength: The wavelength of a transverse wave is the distance between
two successive crests or troughs.
d) Amplitude: The amplitude of a transverse wave is the maximum
displacement of a particle from its rest position.
Examples of transverse waves:
a) Light waves: Light waves are transverse waves that do not require a
medium to travel through. They oscillate perpendicular to the direction of
wave propagation.
b) Water waves: Water waves are also transverse waves. The particles of
water oscillate up and down as the wave travels across the water's surface.

In summary, waves are disturbances that transfer energy without the physical
transfer of matter. Longitudinal waves oscillate in the same direction as the
wave travels, while transverse waves oscillate perpendicular to the direction
of wave propagation. Both types of waves have specific parts, such as
compression and rarefaction for longitudinal waves, and crest and trough for
transverse waves. Examples of longitudinal waves include sound waves and
shock waves, while examples of transverse waves include light waves and
water waves.

Image Formation by Concave and Convex Lenses:

Convex Lenses
○ When an object is placed at infinity, the real image is formed at the
focus. The size of the image is highly diminished and point size.

○ When an object is placed beyond the centre of curvature, the real

image is formed between the centre of curvature and focus. The
image size will not be the same as the object. It will be diminished in
size.
○ When an object is at the centre of curvature, the real image is formed
at the other centre of curvature. The size of the image is the same as
compared to that of the object.

○ When an object is placed in between the centre of curvature and

focus, the real image is formed behind the centre of curvature. The
size of the image is larger than that of the object.
○ When an object is placed at the focus, a real image is formed at
infinity. The size of the image is much larger than that of the object.

○ When an object is placed in between focus and optical centre, a

virtual image is formed. The size of the image is larger than that of
the object.
Concave Lenses
○ When an object is placed at infinity, a virtual image is formed at the
focus. The size of the image is highly diminished and point size.

○ When an object is placed at a finite distance from the lens, a virtual

image is formed between the optical centre and the focus of the
convex lens. The size of the image is smaller than that of the object.
Summary of Image Formation by Concave and Convex Lens
Image formation
by Concave Lens
Object Location Image Location Image Nature Image Size
Infinity At F1 Virtual and Erect Highly
diminished,
point-sized
Beyond Infinity Between Focus Virtual and Erect Diminished
and Optical (F1) and Optical
Centre center (O)
Image formation
by Convex Lens
Object location Image location Image nature Image size
Infinity At F2 Real and Inverted Diminished, point
sized
Beyond 2F1 Between 2F2 and Real and Inverted Diminished
F2
Between 2F1 and Beyond 2F2 Real and Inverted Enlarged
F1
At F1 At infinity Real and Inverted Infinitely large or
highly enlarged
At 2F1 At 2F2 Real and Inverted Same size
Between F1 and On the same side Virtual and Erect Enlarged
0 as the object
Diffraction:
● The bending of waves around obstacles or through small openings
● Occurs when the size of the opening or obstacle is similar to the

wavelength of the wave

● Can be observed with light, sound, and water waves
● Can be used to analyze the structure of materials and create diffraction

gratings
Total Internal Reflection:
● Occurs when light travels from a more dense medium to a less dense

medium and is reflected back at the boundary

● Can occur when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle,

which is dependent on the refractive indices of the two media

● Has applications in fiber optics, where light can be transmitted through

the core of a fiber by total internal reflection

Interference:
● Occurs when two or more waves meet and combine to form a resulting

wave
● Can be constructive, where the amplitudes of the waves add together, or

destructive, where the amplitudes cancel each other out

● Can be observed with light waves, sound waves, and water waves
● Has applications in noise-canceling headphones and musical

instruments, where interference can be used to create specific sounds

and eliminate unwanted noise

Critical angle is a term used in optics to describe the angle of incidence at

which light undergoes total internal reflection at the boundary between two
different media. When light travels from a medium with a higher refractive
index to a medium with a lower refractive index, such as from glass to air, it
can bend away from the surface of the boundary if the angle of incidence is
large enough. The critical angle is the angle of incidence at which the angle
of refraction is 90 degrees, which causes the light to be reflected back into
the medium with the higher refractive index. The critical angle is dependent
on the refractive indices of the two media and can be calculated using Snell's
law.