Overview of key terms and skills for waves, including how to identify longitudinal and transverse waves.
Log in Phoebe Allanson 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Phoebe Allanson's post “Is there an easy way (an ...” Is there an easy way (an acrostic or something) to remember what wave is bunched together and which has up and down movement? • (21 votes) mattijn.wow 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to mattijn.wow's post “I find that the 'long' in...” I find that the 'long' in longitudinal reminds me a bit of 'along'. As in along the medium. While the 'trans' out of transverse is more readily used in various fields and comes from Latin and translates to 'the other side of'. So it travels from one side to the other side. Hope it helps. (11 votes) khushi singh 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to khushi singh's post “here its written "Sometim...” here its written "Sometimes people forget wave speed isn't the same as the speed of the particles in the medium" but wont the increase in particle speed increase wave speed • (16 votes) Natrium Chloride 3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to Natrium Chloride's post “Nope, increasing particle...” Nope, increasing particle speed does not increase the wave speed. They are separate. Actually it elaborated right after the sentence you quoted. 'The wave speed is how quickly the disturbance travels through a medium. The particle speed is how quickly a particle moves about its equilibrium position.' An increase in particle speed will increase the energy the wave carries but will not affect the wave speed at all. (10 votes) Areej Maqsood 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Areej Maqsood's post “So if you move the slinky...” So if you move the slinky forwards and backwards, then the slinky with get bunched up in some places, like how the air was in the sound wave from the video, creating a longitudinal wave? But if you move it up and down, then the slinky with go up and down until you stop, like the string in the video, creating a transverse wave? • (5 votes) anirud.chakkarapani 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to anirud.chakkarapani's post “Yes. Imagine ripples in w...” Yes. Imagine ripples in water is a longitudinal wave, and transverse waves are those waves like when you shake a string and the curve continues along the string. (2 votes) Lora Beilharz 3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to Lora Beilharz's post “So when a transverse and ...” So when a transverse and longitudinal wave combine, what is that called? • (3 votes) tinagkp0551 7 months agoPosted 7 months ago. Direct link to tinagkp0551's post “Longitudinal and transver...” Longitudinal and transverse waves can combine to form what is known as a surface wave. One common example of this combination is the Rayleigh wave. In a Rayleigh wave, particles move in an elliptical or circular motion, combining both the back-and-forth (transverse) and compressional (longitudinal) motions. This kind of wave is frequently seen during seismic activity and plays a part in the surface of the earth trembling during an earthquake. (2 votes) Kinzie 6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Kinzie's post “If a wave length is so sh...” If a wave length is so short, (gamma rays) can it be detected by machines? What are the effects of waves on a medium? • (5 votes) h 2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to h's post “yes it can be detected an...” yes it can be detected and a wave (0 votes) cattuongvy1804 3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to cattuongvy1804's post “Hi, I would like to ask a...” Hi, I would like to ask about classifying waves. So waves are divided into 2 types: mechanical (e.g.: sound waves) and non-mechanical (e.g: light waves). Mechanical waves are further divided into transverse waves and longitudinal waves. Why are light waves longitudinal, yet they aren't considered mechanical? Thank you. • (4 votes) KLaudano 3 years agoPosted 3 years ago. Direct link to KLaudano's post “Mechanical waves must tra...” Mechanical waves must travel through matter. Electromagnetic radiation (e.g. light) can travel through a vacuum, thus it is not a mechanical wave. (1 vote) Captain Flash101 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to Captain Flash101's post “what happens if both type...” what happens if both types of waves are mixed together. • (3 votes) tinagkp0551 7 months agoPosted 7 months ago. Direct link to tinagkp0551's post “Longitudinal and transver...” Longitudinal and transverse waves can combine to form what is known as a surface wave. One common example of this combination is the Rayleigh wave. In a Rayleigh wave, particles move in an elliptical or circular motion, combining both the back-and-forth (transverse) and compressional (longitudinal) motions. This type of wave is often observed in seismic activity and contributes to the shaking of the earth's surface during an earthquake. (1 vote) Jose Mari John Rebollos 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to Jose Mari John Rebollos's post “how does waves move throu...” how does waves move through a medium? • (1 vote) KLaudano 5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to KLaudano's post “If you are talking about ...” If you are talking about physical waves, such as sound waves and vibrations, here is the answer. As the wave passes through a material, the particles at the wave are moving a very small distance. As they move, they bump into other particles and impart their momentum onto these new particles. These new particles in turn move and bump into other particles, repeating the cycle of movement and imparting momentum, thus allowing the wave to move through the medium. (4 votes) anelisa.arries07 2 months agoPosted 2 months ago. Direct link to anelisa.arries07's post “what is a simple definiti...” what is a simple definition for a pulse • (2 votes) Mikel 2 months agoPosted 2 months ago. Direct link to Mikel's post “A pulse is a single distu...” A pulse is a single disturbance that moves through a medium ,like a wave is multiple pulses (1 vote) Abacus a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Abacus's post “"The particle speed is ho...” "The particle speed is how quickly a particle moves about its equilibrium position." What does this sentence mean? • (2 votes) tinagkp0551 7 months agoPosted 7 months ago. Direct link to tinagkp0551's post “For example, if we watch ...” For example, if we watch a small slinky element performing a longidunal wave, we will see that element moving back and forth. We will also see that the element is moving with a restoring force throughout its motion, with the exception of one location—likely in the middle—that is referred to as the equilibrium position(no restoring force at this position), and the element's speed about that position is equal to the particle's or element's speed. (0 votes)Want to join the conversation?