MECHANICAL WAVES

Types of wave
Waves are moving energy. When waves move along, they make the surface or object move in regular patterns often called wave disturbances. The important thing to notice is that no 'matter' is moved with the wave. Only the energy travels along. When it comes to mechanical waves, molecules oscillate; and when it comes to electromagnetic waves electric and magnetic fields oscillate. Mechanical waves are produced by a disturbance in a material medium and are transmitted by the particles of the medium vibrating to and fro. Such waves can be seen or felt. A progressive or travelling wave is a disturbance which carries energy from one place to another without transferring matter. There are two types: transverse and longitudinal. In a transverse wave, the direction of the disturbance is at right angles to the direction of the travel of the wave. This leads to a series of peaks and troughs. At peaks, the particles are displaced higher than normal. At troughs, they are displaced lower than normal. Examples are sound waves and seismic waves.

Describing waves
Displacement-distance graph shows, for a certain instant of time, the distance moved by the parts of a medium vibrating at different distance from the cause of the wave.

Wavelength
The wavelength of a wave, represented by a Greek letter lambda ( ), is the distance between successive crests.

Amplitude
The amplitude is the height of a crest or the depth of a trough measured from the undisturbed position of whatever is carrying the wave.

Frequency
Examples include light waves, water waves and all electromagnetic waves. In longitudinal waves the particles vibrate in the same direction as the movement of energy. This leads to a series of compressions and rarefactions. In compressions, the particles are closer together than normal. In rarefactions, the particles are further apart than normal. The frequency is the number of complete waves generated per second. The hertz is the unit of frequency. The frequency of a wave is also the number of crests passing a chosen point per second.

Time period
The time period of a wave is the time it takes for one complete wave. The lower the frequency is the longer the time period will be.

Phase
Phase is relative displacement between or among waves having the same frequency.

Three rules of reflection

RULE 1: The angle of incidence is always the same size as the angle of reflection. (Angle A = Angle B)

Speed
The speed of the wave is the distance moved in the direction of travel of the wave by a crest or any point on the wave in 1 second.

The wave equation

The higher the frequency of the wave, the smaller its wavelength.   The angles are always measured from the ray to the normal line. The normal line is a line at right angles to the mirror. Plane (flat) mirrors produce virtual images. This means that the images are not real, they don't exist. We can see these images because our brains think that they exist.

Reflection
When light hits a mirror it bounces off the mirror. This is called reflection. The light going towards the mirror is the incident ray. The angle between the normal and the incident ray is called the angle of incidence. The light coming away from the mirror is the reflected ray. The angle between the normal and the reflected ray is called the angle of reflection.

The rays of light reflect off the mirror (obeying rule 1), back into the eye. The brain thinks that light only travels in straight lines, so tracks the lines back to the point behind the mirror. This point is the virtual image. It doesn't really exist, but the brain thinks it does. RULE 2: The image is always the same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front (distance C = distance D). The light hitting the rough surface is scattered and only some light will enter an eye. This is called diffuse reflection. On a smoother surface light will be reflected in a regular way. This is called regular reflection. Rule 3: The image is always the same size as the object and laterally inverted (left becomes right and right becomes left).

Reflection of water waves

The wavefronts are represented by straight lines and can be thought of as crests of the waves. They are at right angles to the direction of the travel, i.e. to the rays. Wave theory suggests that each point on a wavefront can be considered a source of circular waves. These circular waves combine to make the wavefront and as they spread out, the wave travels forward.

A raindrop hitting a puddle produces curved wave fronts. If these hit a plane (straight) surface the shape of the wave fronts curves the opposite way.

The distance between the wave fronts represents the wavelength. The closer the wave fronts are together the shorter the wavelength of the water wave. Water waves obey the first rule of reflection, so that the angle of incidence of the waves is the same as the angle of reflection.

If water waves hit a curved surface the wave fronts become curved. This can make the wave fronts go to a point. The more curved the surface is, the quicker the waves come to a point after hitting the surface.