Waves

Waves

A wave can be described as a disturbance that travels through a medium from one location to another location.

Transverse Waves

• A transverse wave is a moving wave that consists of oscillations occurring perpendicular (or right angled) to the direction of energy transfer. 
• If transverse wave is moving in the positive x-direction, its oscillations are in up and down directions that lie in the y–z plane. 

Longitudinal waves

• In a longitudinal wave the particle displacement is parallel to the direction of wave propagation. 
• The animation at below shows a one-dimensional longitudinal plane wave propagating down a tube.
• The particles do not move down the tube with the wave; they simply oscillate back and forth about their individual equilibrium positions.

Frequency

The frequency of a wave refers to how often the particles of the medium vibrate when a wave passes through the medium. 

Wavelength

Wavelength is the distance between identical points in the adjacent cycles of a waveform.