WAVES

Physics Notes
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 Waves
• Waves are repeated to-and-fro vibrations that
transfer energy away from an energy source
 Describing wave
motion
Term Description SI units
Amplitude, The maximum displacement of the Metre (m)
A rope from the rest position
Wavelength, The shortest distance between 2 Metre (m)
λ successive crests or troughs
Frequency, f The number of complete waves Hertz (Hz)
produced per second
Period, T The time taken to produce one Second (s)
complete wave
Wave speed, The distance travelled by a wave in 1 Second (s)
v second
Describing wave
motion
crest

trough
 Types of Waves
• Transverse waves
o The vibration of the particles in the medium is perpendicular to the
direction in which the wave travels
o Eg. water waves, rope waves, all types of electromagnetic waves
including light waves, microwaves, X-rays, gamma rays
o The highest point reached by a vibrating particle in a transverse wave
is called crest or peak while the lowest point is called trough

• Longitudinal waves
o The vibration of the particles in the medium is parallel to the direction
in which the wave travels
o Eg. sound waves
o The section in which the vibrating particles in a longitudinal wave are
closest together is called compression while the section in which the
vibrating particles are furthest apart is called rarefaction
Longitudinal and
Transverse waves
 Wavefronts
• Any line or surface over which all the vibrating
particles are in the same phase
• Particles in the same phase have the same speed
and are at equal distances from their source
• In transverse waves, wavefronts are normally
lines joining all the peaks at equal distance from
their source
• The distance between successive wavefronts
equals a wavelength
• The direction of travel of a wave is always
perpendicular to its wavefronts as indicated by
lines drawn perpendicular to the wavefronts.
Wavefronts
 Wave Equation
• Velocity of wave, v = fλ
Example: The speed of light in vacuum is 3 x 108
m/s
Calculate the frequency of orange light, given that
its wavelength in vacuum is 6 x 107 m.

3 x 108 = f x 6 x 10-7
f = (3 x 108)/(6 x 10-7) = 5 x 1014 Hz
 Ripple Tank
• The properties of waves in general and water waves
in particular are most easily studied in a ripple tank
 Reflection of waves
• Waves are reflected when an obstacle is placed in
their paths
• All reflected waves obey the law of reflection
which states
o The angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence
o The incident wave, the reflected wave, and the normal all lie on the
same plane
Properties of reflected
waves
• The reflected wave the same wavelength,
frequency, and speed as the incident wave
• The velocities of the reflected and incident waves
are different because they travel in different
directions
• The angle of reflection equal to the angle of
incidence
 Refraction of waves
• Waves are refracted when their speeds are changed
• The speed of a wave is changed when the wave
moves from a dense medium into a less dense
medium or from deep water to shallower water
• If the incident wave is travelling along the normal, it
will continue to travel along the normal after entering
water of a different depth
• In all other cases, refraction produces a change in
wave direction
• On entering shallower water, the wave direction bends
towards the normal.
• On entering deeper water, the wave direction bends
away from the normal
Refraction of water
waves
 Refraction of waves
Properties Shallower to deeper Deeper to shallower
water water
Wavelength Increases Decreases
Frequency Unchanged Unchanged
Speed Increases Decreases
Velocity Increases Decreases
Direction of travel Bends away from Bends towards
normal normal
Ripple Tank to show
refraction of waves
 Sound
• Production of sound waves by vibrating
sources: sound is produced by vibrating
sources (eg tuning fork) placed in a
medium (solid, liquid, gas)
• Nature of sound waves
o It is a form of energy that can be transferred from one point to
another
o It is an example of longitudinal waves consisting of
compressions and rarefactions
o Compressions are regions where air pressure is slightly higher
than he surrounding air pressure
o Rarefactions are regions where air pressure is slightly lower
than the surrounding air pressure
Sound waves
 Range of audible
frequency
• The range of frequency that a human ear can
detect is from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
Transmission of sound
in a medium
• Sound waves require a medium for transmission
• Sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum

Vacuum
jar
 Speed of sound in
solid, liquid, gas
Medim Speed in m/s
Air (gas) 300
Water (liquid) 1500
Iron (solid) 5000

Speed of sound changes with changes in temperature or

humidity
Change in Explanation
Temperature Sound travels faster when
temperature rises
Humidity Sound travels faster when
humidity increases
Pressure A change in pressure does not
affect speed of sound
 determine speed of
sound in air
• Pistol method
o Observer A and B are positioned at a distance s apart and with
a measuring tape, measure and record s. (must be more than
1km)
o A fires a starting pistol
o B starts the stopwatch on seeing the flash of the pistol and
stops the stopwatch when he hears the sound
o The time t, is recorded
o The speed of sound v can be calculated by
• Speed = distance / time

• For better accuracy, the experiment should be repeated

and the average speed of sound can be calculated.
• The experiment can be repeated by interchanging the
positions of A and B so as to minimise the effect of the
wind direction.
 determine speed of
sound in air
• Echo method
o Observer A and B are positioned at a distance s from the wall
and with a measuring tape, measure and record s
o A claps two wooden blocks.
o On hearing the echo (reflected from the wall), he repeats the
clap
o B starts the stopwatch and also starts counting from zero till
the nth clap.
o The time interval tn is recorded
o The average time between successive claps is t = tn/n
o The speed of sound v can be calculated by
• speed = distance/time
 Reflection of sound
• An echo is a reflection of sound
• Reverberation is the effect of a prolonged sound
due to the merging of many echoes
• Echoes are used in determining the depth of sea
and locations of shoals of fish
 Electromagnetic
spectrum
• The entire possible range of electromagnetic
waves is called the electromagnetic spectrum
 Properties of
electromagnetic waves
• They are generated by accelerating charged
particles
• They travel at 3 x 108 m/s in vacuum
• They obey the laws of reflection and refraction
• They show wave properties such as diffraction
and interference
• They obey the equation v = fλ
• They are progressive transverse waves carrying
energy in the form of oscillating electrical and
magnetic fields vibrating at right angles to one
another and to the direction of travel of the waves
Radiati Waveleng Sources Detectors Uses
on th/m
Gamma 10-15 – 10-11 Cosmic rays G M tubes with Checking welds, killing
rays radioactive counters, cancer cells in
substances, nuclear bubble/cloud radiology, photography
changes chambers
X-rays 10-13 – 10-8 X-ray tubes: Photographic X-ray photography,
stopping of fast- film, fluorescent analysis of crystal
moving electrons by screen structure
a heavy metal target
Ultraviole 10-8 – 10-7 Mercury vapor Fluorescent Forgery detection,
t lamps, sun, spark screens/dyes sun lamps
discharges
Visible 10-7 Hot bodies, lasers, Photographic Chemical spectral
light fluorescent film, analysis, fibre optics
screens, sun photodiodes
Infra-red 10-7 – 10-3 Warm bodies, sun, Blackened TV remote control,
fires, furnaces thermometers radiant heaters
,
thermocouple
s
VHF and 10-4 – 10-1 TV transmitters Aerials and TV Communications,
UHF (TV) sets entertainment
waves
Radio 10-3 – 103 Radio Aerials and Radio, telescope,
waves transmitters radio sets radar,