Nature and Type of Waves

At the end of this lesson, students must be able to:

1. identify the different types of waves;

2. differentiate between pulse waves and periodic
waves; and
3. distinguish between transverse waves and
longitudinal waves.
 A wave is a disturbance or oscillation that
travels through space-time, accompanied by a
transfer of energy. A wave does not move
mass in the direction of propagation. It
transfers energy from one location to another.

Some examples of waves are radio waves,

microwaves, sound waves, and seismic waves.
 Misconception Alert
Many people think that water waves push water from one
direction to another. In fact, the particles of water tend to
stay in one location, save for moving up and down due to the
energy in the wave. The energy moves forward through the
water, but the water stays in one place. If you feel yourself
pushed in an ocean, what you feel is the energy of the wave,
not a rush of water.
 The matter through which a wave travels is
called the medium. A wave can travel through a
solid, liquid, or gas medium. An example of this is
water wave. Water is the medium. Mechanical
waves are waves that need matter as a medium.
Sound waves may travel
through various media
such as water (liquid), air
(gas) or walls (solid).
What is the best medium for sound to travel
through?

Sound travels fastest through solids. This

is because molecules in a solid medium are
much closer together than those in a liquid
or gas, allowing sound waves to travel more
quickly through it. In fact, sound waves travel
over 17 times faster through steel than
through air.
 When you watch water waves travel
across a pond, your eye tends to follow a
wave crest. The visual impression of a
wave crest leads to the idea of a wave
front. A wave front is defined as a surface
over which the phase of the wave is
constant. It is the line that joins all
identical points on a wave. In a particular
wave front, at a given moment of time, all
particles of the medium are undergoing
the same motion
 Types of Wave Fronts
1. Spherical Wavefront spherical wavefronts

A wave in which the disturbance

propagated outward in all directions from
the source of wave is called a spherical
wavefront. The light waves are the example
of spherical waves. The light waves
produced by a single light source, are
spherical waves. During the propagation of
light waves, the spherical wavefronts spread
out in all directions.
 Types of Wave Fronts
2. Plane Wavefront plane wavefronts

In a plane wave disturbances travel

in the single direction. For example
when a string is fixed at both ends and
the string is plucked at one end, then
transverse waves are generated in the
string in which particles of the
medium vibrate in one direction. So
the transverse waves are plane waves.
 Classification of Waves
I. According to what they move through (medium)
a. Electromagnetic waves
b. Mechanical wave
II. According to how particles move through them

a. Transverse wave
b. Longitudinal wave
I. According to what they move through (medium)
a. Electromagnetic Waves
Electromagnetic waves travel through
through gases, liquids, solids, and through
empty space (or a vacuum) at nearly 300,000
kilometers per second (the speed of light).
They are created due to the vibration of an
electrical charge. The charged particles (such
as electrons) move up and down.
The electromagnetic spectrum represents the complete range of
electromagnetic radiation. The region of the spectrum with a shorter
wavelength than the color violet is referred as ultraviolet radiation, and
the region of the spectrum with a longer wavelength than the color red is
referred to as infrared radiation.
Electromagnetic waves are transverse in nature and
have both electrical and magnetic properties. The
changes in the electric field or the magnetic field
represent the wave disturbance in the EM waves. These
are the waves that get propagated due to the
simultaneous variations of the electric and magnetic
field intensity.
b. Mechanical Waves
A mechanical wave is a wave that is not capable of
transmitting its energy through a vacuum. Mechanical waves
require a medium in order to transport their energy from one
location to another.

A sound wave is an example of a mechanical wave. Sound

waves are incapable of traveling through a vacuum.
Slinky waves, water waves, earthquake or seismic waves,
and jump rope waves are other examples of mechanical
waves. Each of them requires some medium in order to exist.
A slinky wave requires the coils of the slinky, a water wave
requires water, and a jump rope wave requires a jump rope.
II. According to how particles move through them
a. Transverse Wave

Transverse wave is a wave in which the

vibrations are at a right angle or
perpendicular to the direction of the waves.
It can be propagated through solids, on the
surface of liquids but not in gases.
An example of a transverse wave is the wave that passes
through a rope when you shake one end of the rope up and
down.
For transverse waves, the oscillations are
perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer.
 The figure below shows a transverse wave moving
along a rope. The particles of the rope vibrate up and
down, while the energy travels at right angles to this,
from A to B. There is no transfer of matter from A to B.
 Other example of transverse wave is a seismic S wave. The S
wave or secondary wave is the second wave that you feel in an
earthquake. It is a seismic body wave that shakes the ground back
and forth perpendicular to the direction the wave is moving
A wave that consists of a single traveling pulse is called a
pulse wave.
However, a periodic wave is a wave with a repeating continuous
pattern which determines its wavelength and frequency. It is
characterized by the amplitude, a period and a frequency.

Periodic wave
 Parts of a Transverse Wave
1. The crest is the highest part of a transverse wave.
2. The trough is the lowest part of a transverse wave.
3. The wavelength is the distance between neighboring maximum
displacements. It is the distance between two successive crests or
troughs, or between two successive compression or rarefactions.
4. The amplitude is the maximum displacement of the particles of
the medium from their equilibrium position. The height of the crests
or troughs is equal to the amplitude of the wave. The amplitude
depends on the amount of energy the wave is carrying.
5. The node is the point in which the wave touches the equilibrium
position.
Parts of a Transverse Wave
b. Longitudinal Wave
Longitudinal wave is a wave in which the vibrations are along
the direction of the wave. The particles move along the
direction of the wave rather than at right angles to it. It can be
propagated through solids, liquids as well as in gases.
However instead of crests and troughs, longitudinal
waves have compressions and rarefactions. A
compression is a region in a longitudinal wave where
the particles are closest together. A rarefaction is a
region in a longitudinal wave where the particles are
farthest apart.
Examples of longitudinal waves are sound waves,
ultrasound waves and seismic P-waves.
 Wave Speed
At the end of this lesson, students must be able to:

1. describe the properties of waves;

2. determine how waves transfer energy;
3. relate wave velocity, wavelength and frequency;
and
4. calculate the speed of a wave.
 Waves as Energy Carriers
• Sound is energy that travels to our ears in the form of one
kind of wave.
• Light is energy that comes to our eyes in the form of a
different kind of wave which is the electromagnetic wave.
• Same with the signals that reach our radio and television
sets, they also travel in the form of electromagnetic waves.
When energy is transferred by a wave from a vibrating
source to a distant receiver, there is no transfer of matter
between the two points.
Drop a stone in a quiet pond and
a wave will be produced that
move out from the center in an
expanding circle. It is the
disturbance that moves, not the
water, for after the disturbance
passes, the water is where it was
before the wave passed
 Wave Speed

The speed of a wave depends on the

medium through which the wave moves.
Sound waves, for example, move at speeds of
about 330 m/s to 350 m/s in air (depending
on temperature), and about 4 times faster in
water.
 The frequency (f) of waves is the number of cycles passing
through a given point in one second. Frequency is measured
in hertz (Hz or 1 cycle/s).

The time to make one complete wave cycle is the period (T).

Period is the reciprocal of frequency.

In symbols, T = or f = .
 A frequency meter is a
device for measuring
the repetitions per unit
of time (customarily, a
second) of a complete
electromagnetic
waveform.
 Wavelength and frequency are inversely related. If a wave is
traveling at the same speed, as the frequency of a wave increases, its
wavelength decreases.
The same is true in reverse. As the wavelength of a wave
increases, its frequency decreases.

Long wavelength, low

frequency and less energy

Short wavelength, high

frequency and more energy
 Speed of Waves

Wave motion can be described in terms of its

speed.
The velocity of the wave is equal to the product of
the wavelength (λ, pronounced ‘lambda’) and the
frequency (f) of the wave.
 Speed of Waves

λ
Where v = velocity of the wave, m/s
λ = wavelength, m
f = frequency of the wave (number of
cycle per second), Hz
Example

1. A wave with a 0.6m wavelength moves down a

rope with a frequency of 4Hz. What is the speed
of the wave?
Example
2. A wave with a 2m wavelength travels down
a rope at a speed of 8 m/s. What is the
frequency of the wave?
Example

3. The sound of a barking dog has an average frequency

of 2,000 Hz, what is the wavelength of the sound emitted?
(Approximate speed of sound = 350 m/s)
Example
4. What is the period of the wave while David
is surfing if the wave propels him toward the
beach with a speed of 6 m/s and the wave
crests are 3 m apart?
Example
5. Waves of frequency 30 Hz are generated
along a spring. The distance between
successive crests and troughs is 0.35 m.
a. What is the speed of the wave?
b. What is the wavelength if the frequency is
increased to 50 Hz?
 Wave Properties and Interaction
At the end of this lesson, students must be able to:
1. describe how waves behave when they meet an
obstacle, pass into another medium or pass through
another wave;
2. explain what happens when two waves interfere;
3. distinguish between constructive and destructive
interference; and
4. explain how standing waves are formed.
Waves move in straight lines like the waves
on the ocean, spread out in circles like
ripples on a pond, or spread out in spheres
like sound waves in air. But when a wave
encounters a boundary, it exhibits different
properties such as reflection, refraction,
diffraction and interference.
 Properties of Waves

A. Reflection
B. Refraction
C. Diffraction
D. Interference
A. Reflection
When a wave hits a surface or barrier
through which it cannot pass, it bounces
back. This phenomenon is called reflection.
The waves that strike the
barrier are called incident
waves and those waves
which turn back after hitting
the barrier are called
reflected waves.The line
perpendicular to the
reflecting surface is called
normal.
The angle formed by the
incident ray with the normal is
called the angle of incidence
(θi) and the angle formed by
the reflected ray with the
normal is called the angle of
reflection (θr).
 The Law of Reflection
states that:
1. The angle of incidence θi
is equal to the angle of
reflection θr.
2. The incident ray, the
reflected ray and the
normal lie on a single
plane
 Examples of Reflection
• Sound waves can bounce back as echoes
from a wall or cliff.
• Light waves may be reflected by a
smooth surface such as a mirror.
• The moon does not emit any light on its
own, it only reflects the light of the sun.
B. Refraction
Refraction is the bending of waves due to a
change in speed as it passes from one medium
to another medium of different density.
 Refraction of Light

The change in direction of the waves

as they move from one medium to
another
Refraction of Light

The principle of refraction gives

rise to such familiar effects as the
apparent distortion of objects
partly submerged in water. A
spoon appears to be broken when
placed in a glass of water because
light waves bend when they pass
from air to glass to water.
 Snell’s Law
Snell’s Law states that:
1. The incident ray, the refracted ray and the
normal lie in the same plane.
2. For two particular media, the ratio of the
sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the
angle of refraction is a constant.
n=
 Water waves travel at different speeds at
different depths. They travel slower in
shallow water than in deep water. When the
waves are moving from deep to shallow
water, the angle of incidence is greater than
the angle of refraction. When the waves are
moving from shallow to deep water , the
angle of incidence is smaller than the angle
of refraction.
Examples of Refraction

•Rainbow
•Camera Lenses
•Twinkling of Stars
•Mirages
•Prisms
C. Diffraction

The bending of waves around

the edge or corner of a barrier
or openings is known as
diffraction.
The amount of diffraction is dependent on the wavelength and the size of the
opening barrier. Diffraction is only significant if the size of the opening is about
the size of the wavelength.

There is more
There is less diffraction
diffraction when the
length of the opening less when the length of the
than the wavelength. opening greater than the
wavelength.
Diffraction of sound
waves is commonly
observed. Sound waves
diffract around corners or
through door openings.
This allows us to hear
others who are speaking
from the outside
 Examples of Diffraction
• The setting Sun appears red due to the
diffraction of light from the dust particles in the
atmosphere
• Rainbows
• When someone speaks, the sound waves spread
out in all directions, not just in a straight line.
• When light shines on a CD or DVD, it is diffracted
by the tiny grooves in the disc.
D. Interference
Interference is a phenomenon that
occurs when two waves meet as they
travel along the same medium. It is the
overlapping of independent waves as they
meet at a certain point.
 The interference of waves follows the superposition
principle which states that, when two waves meet
while traveling through a medium at the same time, the
result is a wave whose displacement is equal to the
vector sum of the displacement of the two waves.
Types of Interference

1.Constructive Interference
2.Destructive Interference
 Constructive
Interference

If the crests of one wave meet the crests of the other, and the
troughs of one wave meet the troughs of the other, the result is
called a constructive interference. In this case the two waves are in
phase.

The energy from the two waves will combine. Thus, the amplitude
of the resulting wave will be twice the amplitude of either of the
original waves.
 Destructive
Interference

If the crests of one wave meet the troughs of the other, destructive
interference occurs. In this case, the two waves are out of phase.
The amplitude of the first wave cancels out the amplitude of the
second wave. This type of interference produces a wave with an
amplitude of zero.
Traveling Waves and Standing Waves
Waves can also be categorized as
traveling waves and standing waves.

Traveling waves are observed when a wave is

not confined to a given space along the
medium. There is a propagation of energy
without transfer of matter. Examples of
traveling waves are water waves and sound
waves.
 When two waves of the same frequency,
wavelength and amplitude travel in opposite
directions and interfere, a new pattern will be
established due to superposition of the
reflected waves with the original ones. This
pattern is called stationary waves, or standing
waves.
Nodes are the points where the value of
displacement is zero, while antinodes are the
points where the value of displacement is
maximum.
 Difference between Traveling
and Standing Waves
Travelling Waves Standing Waves
• Wave will move. • Wave will not move.
• This consists of one • This is a combination
wave which moves in of two waves which
one direction move in opposite
• Transmits energy direction
• Stores energy
• All particles are • Consists of nodes
vibrating and antinodes
 The fundamental frequency, often referred to
simply as the fundamental, is defined as the
lowest frequency of a periodic waveform.
In other contexts, it is more common to
abbreviate it as f1, the first harmonic.
 The pitch that we actually hear is called the fundamental,
and all the pitches that occur over that pitch and combine
to make it sound the way it does are called overtones.
 In general, for a string of length L in which
there is a standing wave of n segments, the
wavelength is related to L by:

λ=
Example

Standing waves are produced in a string 80cm

long. When four segments are formed, find
a. the wavelength
b. The distance between two consecutive
nodes
Example

Suppose that a string is 1.5 meters long and

vibrates in the first, second and third harmonic
standing wave patterns. Determine the
wavelength of the waves for each of the three
patterns.
Example
The 7-m string tied at one end and the other end
is connected to the vibrator. When the vibrator is
vibrated, the string formed a stationary wave, as
shown in the illustration below. Determine the
position of the 4th antinode from the fixed end.

7m
Example
As shown in the illustration below, one end
connected to the vibrator and another end is
fixed. If string’s length is 2.5 meters, find the
distance between the fourth node and vibrator.

2.5m