Chapter

16 WAVES Understanding the basic properties of

waves helps us understand how waves
affect human beings in daily life.
One important aspect is communication.
The capability of waves in carrying
energy is applied in medical procedures,
cooking and entertainment.
Although waves are important in our
lives, they can also cause us harm. For
example, seismic waves far underground
produce earthquakes which in turn
damage property and take lives.
Chapter 16: Waves
 Waves
A wave can be described as a disturbance that travels, through a medium,
from one location to another location .
It is one way in which energy can be transferred from one place to another
without a transfer of matter.
There are two fundamental types of waves,
1) Transverse waves both waves differ in the
2) Longitudinal waves way they travel

Chapter 16: Waves

 Transverse waves :
Particles in the medium vibrate perpendicularly to the direction of travel of
the waves.

wave travels from

left to right.

particle vibrates up and down.

Chapter 16: Waves

 Longitudinal waves :
Particles in the medium vibrate back and forth, parallel to the direction the
wave travels in.

wave travels from

left to right.

particle vibrates back and forth.

Chapter 16: Waves

 Examples of transverse waves :
Light waves
Heat waves (Infrared radiation)
Waves generated by shaking the free end of a slinky from side to side

Examples of longitudinal waves :

Sound waves
Waves generated by pushing and pulling the free end of a slinky back and
forth

Chapter 16: Waves

Chapter 16: Waves
 Waves
To study waves we need to describe them. There are general terms used to
describe different parts of a wave:

A wave can be graphed by taking into account the displacement of all

particles in motion at any particular instance in time.

Chapter 16: Waves

 Parameters of a Wave
= 2.0 cm
a = 5.0 cm

Amplitude, A

Wavelength ,

Wavelength
The distance between two successive crests or troughs,
or any two similar points
Amplitude
The maximum displacement from the particles rest position

Chapter 16: Waves

 Parameters of a Wave

T = 0.2 s

f =1T
= 5 Hz
Period, T

Period T
The amount of time it takes a particle in the medium to complete one
cycle. Period T is measured in s.
Frequency f
The reciprocal of period gives the number of waves that will pass per
second. This is called the frequency f of a wave. It is measured in Hertz,
Hz

Chapter 16: Waves

 Wave speed

distance
Since, Speed = time

wavelength
Wave speed = period

Wave speed = frequency x wavelength

v=f

Chapter 16: Waves

 Sample calculation
(a) Fig. 1 shows the graph of the variation of the displacement of a wave with
distance along the wave at a particular time.

displacement/cm

0.40
Amplitude
distance/cm
0 0.20 0.40 0.60
Wavelength
-0.40
Fig. 1

State the value for

(i) a = 0.40 cm
(i) amplitude of the wave
(ii) = 0.20 cm
(ii) the wavelength of the wave

Chapter 16: Waves

 Sample calculation (cont)
(b) Fig. 2 shows the graph of the variation of the displacement of the same wave
with time at a particular point along the wave.
displacement/cm displacement/cm

0.40 0.40

distance/cm time/s
0 0.20 0.40 0.60 0 0.10 0.20 0.30

-0.40 -0.40
Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Calculate the speed of the wave.

T = 0.10 s v =f
f = 1 0.10 = 10 x 0.20
= 10 Hz = 2.0 cm/s

Chapter 16: Waves