Bellwork:

Turn in your homework from last night into the drawer in the front of
the room. Any homework turned in after the end of bellwork will be
considered late and you will complete an alternate assignment at
Saturday School
T/F
1. Waves carry matter as they travel from one place to
another
2. Not all waves move energy
3. Sound waves can travel where there is no matter
4. All waves are the same shape and size
5. Waves that carry more energy cause particles to
move a greater distance
What are waves?
 A disturbance that travels through matter or space
 They transfer energy from place to place but do not
transfer matter.
What are mechanical waves?
What do waves travel through
 Medium – the material through which waves travel.
 They travel through types of Matter – solids, liquids or
gas but not a vacum (empty Space
What are the types of
mechanical waves
 In transverse – the particles move perpendicular to
the energy of the wave

 Example – Water waves

Longitudinal waves
 In longitudinal – the particles move parallel to the
direction the wave travels
Bellwork
1. What are waves?
2. What are mechanical waves
3. What is a medium?
4. What are the types of mechanical waves. Draw and
label. Include direction of wave, crest, trough,
rarefactions and compressions.
What are properties of waves
1. Amplitude - measure of how far particles in the medium
are from their normal rest position.
As a wave passes, particles vibrate up and down or back and
forth in the medium
A higher amplitude = higher energy

Crests = highest points

Troughs = lowest point
What is this wave’s amplitude?
How does amplitude effect
energy?
Amplitude
Which has a
larger amplitude A
or B? Why?
 2 Wavelength

Distance from any point on a wave

to the same point later on the
wave

Ex crest to crest, or trough to

trough.
What is this wave’s wavelength?
3. Frequency – number of crests (or troughs) that pass
per unit of time

 Higher frequency = Higher energy

 As the frequency increases the wavelength decreases

 As the frequency decreases, the wavelength increases.
 If 1 second passes, what
is the frequency of
 Wave A?
 Wave B?
Wave speed
 Different types of
waves travel at different
speeds.
 The same type of waves
travel at different
speeds in different
materials.
 Temperature also
affects the speed at
What determines the speed of a
wave?
 Solid – fastest
 Liquid - in-between
 Gas – slowest speed
What happens to the
wavelength as frequency
increases?
 Draw a wave on the grid below
 Draw one with twice the amplitude
 Draw one with twice the frequency
How do waves interact with
matter and each other?
absorption

 Transfer of energy by a wave into the medium

it is in.
 Amount absorbed depends on the type of
wave and the type of medium

 Darker colors absorb more light energy waves

than lighter colors
transmission
 The passage of light waves through an object
How do waves change direction
 Reflection
 Refraction
 diffraction
Reflection
 Bouncing of a wave off a
surface.

 All types of waves reflect

 Light when hit mirror
 Sound when hit wall
Law of reflection: when a wave
is reflected from a surface, the
angle of reflection is = angle of
incidence
Car –label the type of wave
interaction
 Refraction
 When a wave changes direction because its speed changes

 The light waves slow down as they move from air into
water
Diffraction
 The change in direction of a wave when it travels by
the edge of an object or through an opening
Lesson 3 – LR1
Which occurs when a wave changes direction because its
speed changes?

A. diffraction
B. interference
C. reflection
D. refraction
Lesson 3 – LR3
According to the law of reflection, the angle of incidence
equals which of these?

A. the angle of refraction

B. the angle of reflection
C. the angle of interference
D. the angle of diffraction
Lesson 3 - Now
Do you agree or disagree?

5. When light waves strike a mirror,

they change direction.
6. Light waves travel at the same
speed in all materials.
Exit:
1. What factors affect a waves energy?

2. What is wave energy measured in?

3. What factors affect a waves speed?

4. Draw a longitudinal wave and label the compressions

and rarefractions.
 Bellwork:

You just came home from a day at the

beach. You swam in the ocean and
stretched out in the sunlight. Your
friend brought a radio so you could
listen to music. When you arrived home,
you heated some pizza in the microwave
oven. As you waited for it to cook, you
turned on the TV, and then the phone
rang.
List examples of the waves in the story AND
classify as mechanical or electromagnetic
What are electromagnetic
waves
 Electromagnetic – travel through matter and space –
Don’t need a medium to travel through
 - light waves all travel at the same speed because they
don’t have a medium.
Wave Animation
 http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/scienc
e/virtual_labs/E05/E05.html
Bellwork: complete the graphic
organizer using the word list below:
 transverse waves
 wave properties
 crest &trough
 light waves
 sound waves
 Frequency
 Wave speed
 Wavelength
 Compression & rarefaction
 Amplitude
 Period
 longitudinal
Bellwork: Copy and
•Word List:
complete transverse
longitudinal
waves
wave properties
crest &trough,
light waves
sound waves,
Frequency
Wave speed,
Wavelength
Compression
Rarefaction
Amplitude
Period
1. What is the difference between a mechanical and
electromagnetic wave?
2. What is the difference between a longitudinal and a mechanical
wave? (include particle movement and speed in your
comparison)
3. What happens to the speed of a wave if it moves from a gas to a
solid?
4. Through which media do waves travel the slowest? Fastest?
5. You are floating in a life raft in the ocean. What happens as a
wave passes under you? What is the medium the wave is
passing through
6. You are screaming for help from your life raft, what medium
does the sound wave travel through?
7. A wave has a speed of 2cm/sec. Its frequency is 6Hz. Find the
wavelength. Use the formula speed = freq. x wavelength
Exit