WAVES

Describing wave motion

Term

Description

SI units

Amplitude, A

The maximum displacement of the rope

from the rest position

Metre (m)

Wavelength, The shortest distance between 2 successive

crests or troughs

Metre (m)

Frequency, f

The number of complete waves produced

per second

Hertz (Hz)

Period, T

The time taken to produce one complete

wave

Second (s)

Wave speed, v The distance travelled by a wave in 1 second Second (s)

Describing wave motion

crest

trough

Types of Waves
Transverse waves
The vibration of the particles in the medium is perpendicular to the
direction in which the wave travels
Eg. water waves, rope waves, all types of electromagnetic waves
including light waves, microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays
The highest point reached by a vibrating particle in a transverse wave
is called crest or peak while the lowest point is called trough
Longitudinal waves
The vibration of the particles in the medium is parallel to the direction
in which the wave travels
Eg. sound waves
The section in which the vibrating particles in a longitudinal wave are
closest together is called compression while the section in which the
vibrating particles are furthest apart is called rarefaction

Wavefronts
Any line or surface over which all the vibrating particles

are in the same phase

Particles in the same phase have the same speed and
are at equal distances from their source
In transverse waves, wavefronts are normally lines joining
all the peaks at equal distance from their source
The distance between successive wavefronts equals a
wavelength
The direction of travel of a wave is always perpendicular
to its wavefronts as indicated by lines drawn
perpendicular to the wavefronts.

Wave Equation
Velocity of wave, v = f

Example: The speed of light in vacuum is 3 x 108 m/s

Calculate the frequency of orange light, given that its
wavelength in vacuum is 6 x 107 m.
3 x 108 = f x 6 x 10-7
f = (3 x 108)/(6 x 10-7) = 5 x 1014 Hz

Reflection of waves
Waves are reflected when an obstacle is placed in their

paths
All reflected waves obey the law of reflection which states
The angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence
The incident wave, the reflected wave, and the normal all lie on the

same plane

Properties of reflected waves

The reflected wave the same wavelength, frequency, and

speed as the incident wave

The velocities of the reflected and incident waves are
different because they travel in different directions
The angle of reflection equal to the angle of incidence

Refraction of waves
Waves are refracted when their speeds are changed

The speed of a wave is changed when the wave moves

from a dense medium into a less dense medium or from

deep water to shallower water
If the incident wave is travelling along the normal, it will
continue to travel along the normal after entering water of
a different depth
In all other cases, refraction produces a change in wave
direction
On entering shallower water, the wave direction bends
towards the normal.
On entering deeper water, the wave direction bends away
from the normal

Refraction of water waves

Refraction of waves
Properties

Shallower to deeper
water

Deeper to shallower
water

Wavelength

Increases

Decreases

Frequency

Unchanged

Unchanged

Speed

Increases

Decreases

Velocity

Increases

Decreases

Direction of travel

Bends away from normal Bends towards normal

Sound
Production of sound waves by vibrating sources:

sound is produced by vibrating sources (eg

tuning fork) placed in a medium (solid, liquid, gas)
Nature of sound waves
It is a form of energy that can be transferred from one point to another
It is an example of longitudinal waves consisting of compressions and

rarefactions
Compressions are regions where air pressure is slightly higher than he
surrounding air pressure
Rarefactions are regions where air pressure is slightly lower than the
surrounding air pressure

Sound waves

Range of audible frequency

The range of frequency that a human ear can detect is

from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz

Speed of sound in solid, liquid, gas

Medim

Speed in m/s

Air (gas)

300

Water (liquid)

1500

Iron (solid)

5000

Speed of sound changes with changes in temperature or humidity

Change in

Explanation

Temperature

Sound travels faster when

temperature rises

Humidity

Sound travels faster when humidity

increases

Pressure

A change in pressure does not affect

speed of sound

Experiments to determine speed of sound

in air
Pistol method
Observer A and B are positioned at a distance s apart and with a

measuring tape, measure and record s. (must be more than 1km)

A fires a starting pistol
B starts the stopwatch on seeing the flash of the pistol and stops the
stopwatch when he hears the sound
The time t, is recorded
The speed of sound v can be calculated by
Speed = distance / time

For better accuracy, the experiment should be repeated and the

average speed of sound can be calculated.
The experiment can be repeated by interchanging the positions of
A and B so as to minimise the effect of the wind direction.

Experiments to determine speed of sound

in air
Echo method
Observer A and B are positioned at a distance s from the wall and with a

measuring tape, measure and record s

A claps two wooden blocks.
On hearing the echo (reflected from the wall), he repeats the clap
B starts the stopwatch and also starts counting from zero till the nth clap.
The time interval tn is recorded
The average time between successive claps is t = tn/n
The speed of sound v can be calculated by
speed = distance/time

Reflection of sound
An echo is a reflection of sound

Reverberation is the effect of a prolonged sound due to

the merging of many echoes

Echoes are used in determining the depth of sea and
locations of shoals of fish