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IB Waves Definitions and Concepts

The document defines key terms related to oscillations and waves including oscillation, cycle, displacement, amplitude, frequency, period, phase difference, simple harmonic motion, restoring force, damping, natural frequency, forced oscillations, resonance, travelling wave, transverse wave, longitudinal wave, wavefront, ray, crest, trough, compression, rarefaction, wavelength, wave speed, intensity, Snell's law, diffraction, superposition, interference, constructive and destructive interference, and coherent.

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119 views

IB Waves Definitions and Concepts

The document defines key terms related to oscillations and waves including oscillation, cycle, displacement, amplitude, frequency, period, phase difference, simple harmonic motion, restoring force, damping, natural frequency, forced oscillations, resonance, travelling wave, transverse wave, longitudinal wave, wavefront, ray, crest, trough, compression, rarefaction, wavelength, wave speed, intensity, Snell's law, diffraction, superposition, interference, constructive and destructive interference, and coherent.

Uploaded by

Vaspan Palkivala
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DULWICH COLLEGE SHANGHAI

IB PHYSICS OSCILLATIONS AND WAVES DEFINITIONS


OSCILLATIONS: A repeated back and forth motion.
CYCLE: One complete oscillation.
DISPLACEMENT (x): The distance of the oscillating object measured from its
equilibrium position
AMPLITUDE (x0): The maximum displacement from the equilibrium position
FREQUENCY (f): The number of oscillations completed in a second (unit is hertz,
Hz)
-1

ANGULAR FREQUENCY: ( in rad s )

QuickTime
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PERIOD (T): The time taken for an oscillation. f=1/T; T=1/f


PHASE DIFFERENCE (): Two oscillations which are not in step have a phase
difference (expressed as an angle). A phase difference of one oscillation is 2 radians.
SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION: A motion where the acceleration is proportional to
the displacement at all times but is oppositely directed.
a = -2x
RESTORING FORCE: The force directed towards the centre of the SHM which
opposes the displacement at all times.
DAMPING: The loss of energy of oscillations due to work against friction or viscous
medium. Can be heavy, light or critical.
NATURAL FREQUENCY: The frequency at which a system will oscillate naturally.
FORCED OSCILLATIONS: Oscillations of a system which is being driven at another
frequency than its natural one.
RESONANCE: When the driving oscillation has the same frequency as the natural
frequency of the system, the amplitude of the system will increase.
TRAVELLING WAVE: A disturbance moving from a source and transferring energy
from one point to another.
TRANSVERSE WAVE: Where the disturbance is at right angles to the direction of
travel of the wave.
LONGITUDINAL WAVE: Where the disturbance is perpendicular to the direction of
travel of the wave.
WAVEFRONT: A line of surface which joins all points which have the same
displacement at the same moment (they are all in phase).
RAY: A line at right angles to the wavefronts which shows the direction of energy
travel of the wave.

222749249.doc

DULWICH COLLEGE SHANGHAI


CREST AND TROUGH: For a transverse water wave, the maximum and minimum
displacements.
COMPRESSION AND RAREFACTION: For a longitudinal wave, points of
maximum and minimum density of the medium.
DISPLACEMENT: The distance of the disturbance measured from its equilibrium
position.
AMPLITUDE: The maximum displacement from the equilibrium position
FREQUENCY: The number of oscillations completed in a second (hertz)
PERIOD: The time taken for an oscillation. f=1/T; T=1/f
WAVELENGTH: The distance between consecutive points on the wave which are in
step (ie in phase)
WAVE SPEED: The speed of travel of the energy of the wave.

INTENSITY: The rate of flow of energy through unit area perpendicular to the
direction of travel of a wave. Unit: Wm-2
SNELLS LAW: For two particular media, the ratio of the sine of the angle of
incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is constant.

DIFFRACTION: The spreading of waves when they pass through an opening or


round an obstacle.
SUPERPOSITION: When two waves pass the same point at the same time, their
displacements are added together to calculate the resultant displacement.
INTERFERENCE: Superposition of coherent sources resulting in an interference
pattern.
CONSTRUCTIVE/ DESTRUCTIVE: Interference in which the resultant is
reinforced/ cancelled.

COHERENT: Sources of waves with a constant phase difference are coherent.

222749249.doc

DULWICH COLLEGE SHANGHAI

222749249.doc

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