Longitudinal wave *s - Movement of the particles are parallel to the motion of the energy.
Sound waves moving through the air is an example of this type of wave.
Transverse wave *s - movement of the particles are at right angles (perpendicular) to the motion of the energy.
What is a longitudinal wave is made up of?
Since air molecules (the particles of the medium) are moving in a direction that is parallel to the direction that the wave moves, the sound wave is referred to as alongitudinal wave. The result of such longitudinal vibrations is the creation of compressions and rarefactions within the air.
Longitudinal waves include sound waves (vibrations in pressure, particle of displacement, and particle velocity propagated in an elastic medium) and seismic P-waves (created by earthquakes and explosions). In longitudinal waves, the displacement of the medium is parallel to the propagation of the wave.
In longitudinal waves, the oscillations are along the same direction as the direction of travel and energy transfer. Sound waves and waves in a stretched spring are longitudinal waves. P waves (relatively fast moving longitudinal seismic waves that travel through liquids and solids) are also longitudinal waves.
What is a simple definition of a transverse wave?
A light wave is an example of an electromagnetic wave. A transverse wave is a moving wave that is made up of oscillations happening perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer. It can also mean that it is a wave that causes the medium to vibrate at right angles to the direction in which the wave travels.
What kind of a wave is light?
Electromagnetic waves are made of oscillating magnetic and electric fields, and like all waves, they carry energy. There are many types of electromagnetic waves. From lowest energy to highest energy (red to blue) there are radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays.
What is the motion of waves?
Wave motion is defined as the movement of a distortion of a material or medium, where the individual parts or elements of the material only move back-and-forth, up-and-down, or in a cyclical pattern.
Mechanical Waves are waves which propagate through a material medium (solid, liquid, or gas) at a wave speed which depends on the elastic and inertial properties of that medium. There are two basic types of wave motion for mechanical waves: longitudinal waves and transverse waves.
What do sound and light waves have in common?
Light travels as transverse waves and can travel through a vacuum. Sound travels as longitudinal waves and needs to travel through a solid, liquid or gas: it cannot travel through a vacuum. Light and sound can be reflected and refracted, just like water waves.
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