Vibrations and Waves

Transverse Waves
o Waves in the stretched strings of musical instruments and
electromagnetic waves that make up radio waves and light
are transverse
o Examples:
Stringed instruments
Radio Waves
Light Waves
Micro Waves
X-Rays
Gamma rays
o Whenever the motion of the medium is at right angles to
which a wave travels, the wave is a transverse wave
Longitudinal Waves
o Sound waves are longitudinal waves
Both waves can be demonstrated with a loosely coiled string
o Shaken up and downtransverse
o Shaken in and outlongitudinal
Interference
o Interference patterns occur when waves from different
sources arrive at the same pointat the same time
o An interference pattern is a regular arrangement of
places where wave effects are increased, decreased, or
neutralized
o Constructive interferencethe crest of one wave
overlaps the crest of another and their individual effects
add together
Result: wave of increase amplitudereinforcement
o Destructive interferencethe crest of one wave
overlaps the trough of another and their individual effects
are reduced
Result: high part of the wave fills in the low part
cancellation
o Out of phaseCrests overlap troughs, produce regions of
zero amplitude
o In phasecrests of one wave overlap crests of another,
and the troughs overlap as well
Standing Waves
o A standing wave forms only if half a wavelength or a
multiple of half a wavelength fits exactly into the length of
the vibrating medium
o It appears to be standing still- NOT but looks that way

o Nodes are the stationary points in the standing wave

o The position on a standing wave with the highest
amplitude are antinodes
o Nodesdestructive
o AntinodesConstructive
The Doppler Effect
o As a wave source approaches, an observer encounters
waves with a higher frequency. As the wave source moves
away, an observer encounters waves with a lower
frequency
o The Doppler effect also works for light waves
When a light source approaches there is an increase
in measured frequency
When it leaves it decreases
o Increasing frequency is called a blue shift increase
toward high frequency or blue end
o Decreasing frequency is called a red shift decrease
toward low frequency or red end
o Frequency changes not the speed of waves
Bow Waves
o Occurs when a wave source moves faster than the waves it
produces
o The crests overlap at the edges and the pattern made is a
V shape
Shock waves
o Occurs when an object moves faster than the speed of
sound
o A three dimensional wave that consists of overlapping
spheres in the form of a dome

A single disturbance that moves from point to point through a medium

is called a PULSE
Speed always changes when it changes media which means frequency
NEVER changes, so wavelength changes
Velocity=wavelength x frequency
The Doppler Effect
vv (detector )
fd=fs(
) The direction from the source to the
vv (source)
detector is always positive
d=detector
s=source

FINAL

Speed of light vs sound

Source of all waves
Longitudinal vs transverse wave
Speed of sound in a different media and temperatures
Resonance
Noise cancelling earphones
Beats
Tacoma Narrows Bridge
Time between lightening and thunder
V=f
Beat Frequency
Constructive/ Destructive Interference
Standing Wave
Node Vs. Antinode
Doppler Effect
Amplitude= Energy
Factors that affect the period of a pendulum
Sonic Boom (supersonic)
Period vs frequency
Kilohertz vs megahertz
Bow Wave
Compression vs rare faction
Pitch

Electromagnetic Waves
o The electromagnetic spectrum consists of radio waves,
microwaves, infrared light, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and
gamma rays

o Light is energy that is emitted by accelerating electric

chargesoften electrons in atoms
o The energy traveled in a wave that is partly electric and
partly magnetic such as electromagnetic waves
o The range of electromagnetic waves is called the
electromagnetic spectrum
o The lowest frequency of light we can see appears red. The
highest visible light, violet, has twice the frequency of red
o INFRAREDelectromagnetic waves of frequencies lower
than the red of visible light, heat lamp
o ULTRAVIOLETelectromagnetic waves of frequencies
higher than violet, responsible for sunburn
Light and Transparent Materials
o Light passes through materials whose atoms absorb the
energy and immediately reemit as light
o Light is energy carried in electromagnetic wave, generated
by vibrating electric charges
o When light strikes matter, electrons in the matter are
forced into vibration
o Materials that transmit light are transparent
o Electrons in glass have a natural vibration frequency in the
ultraviolet range
In ultraviolet light, resonance occurs as the wave
builds a large vibration between the electron and
nucleus
The energy received by an atom can either be
passed on to neighboring atoms by collisions or
reemitted as light
If ultraviolet light interacts with an atom that has the
same natural frequency, the vibration amplitude is
unusually large
The atom typically holds on to this energy for about 1
million vibrations or 100 millionths of a second
Gives up energy in the form of heat
Glass is NOT transparent to ultraviolet
o When the electromagnetic wave has a lower frequency
than ultraviolet, as visible light does, the electrons are
forced into vibration with smaller amplitudes
The atom holds the energy for less time, with less
chance of collision with neighboring atoms
Less energy is transferred as heat
The energy if vibrating electrons is reemitted as
transmitted light
o In a vacuum, the speed of light is constant at 300,000 km/s

Polarization
o Light that reflects at glancing angles from non metallic
surfaces, such as glass, water, or roads, vibrates mainly in
the plane of the reflecting surface
o Light travels in waves. The fact the waves are transverse
and not longitudinalis demonstrated by the phenomenon
of polarization
o When light shines on a polarizing filter, the light that is
transmitted is polarizing