Transverse waves cause the medium to move perpendicular to the direction of the wave. Longitudinal waves cause the medium to move parallel to the direction of the wave.

There are three types of mechanical waves: transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and surface waves, etc. Some of the most common examples of mechanical waves are water waves, sound waves, and seismic waves.

Mechanical waves needs a media through which they can transmit, and media must have elastisity. Sound waves are mechanical waves, which travels by the particles/atoms or molecules of media.

Key terms

A standing wave is a wave that appears to stand in one place, even though it is two waves interfering as they pass through each other. Nodes and Antinodes – In a standing wave, destructive interference produces points with zero amplitude, called nodes. The nodes are always evenly spaced along the wave.

In physics a wave can be thought of as a disturbance or oscillation that travels through space-time, accompanied by a transfer of energy. Wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium —that is, with little or no associated mass transport.

Wave motion, propagation of disturbances—that is, deviations from a state of rest or equilibrium—from place to place in a regular and organized way. Most familiar are surface waves on water, but both sound and light travel as wavelike disturbances, and the motion of all subatomic particles exhibits wavelike properties.

Transverse Waves

Mechanical Waves Waves transfer energy from one place to another, but they do not necessarily transfer any mass. Light, sound, and waves in the ocean are common examples of waves. Sound and water waves are mechanical waves; meaning, they require a medium to travel through.

electromagnetic radiation

For water waves, those with a high speed and long wavelength (like a tsunami) have the most energy. For electromagnetic waves, speed is constant, so waves with a high frequency and a short wavelength (like X-rays) are the most energetic. For all waves, a greater amplitude means more energy.

The amount of energy is directly proportional to the photon’s electromagnetic frequency and thus, equivalently, is inversely proportional to the wavelength. The higher the photon’s frequency, the higher its energy. Equivalently, the longer the photon’s wavelength, the lower its energy.

The highest surface part of a wave is called the crest, and the lowest part is the trough. The vertical distance between the crest and the trough is the wave height. The horizontal distance between two adjacent crests or troughs is known as the wavelength.

As is shown on the figure, wave height is defined as the height of the wave from the wave top, called the wave crest to the bottom of the wave, called the wave trough. The wave length is defined as the horizontal distance between two successive crests or troughs.

Vocabulary

• crest. the top of a wave.
• wave. moving swell on the surface of water.
• wave height. the distance between a wave’s trough and crest.
• wavelength. the distance between the crests of two waves.
• wave trough. the lowest part of a wave.

Graphing a Wave In this picture you can see that the highest point on the graph of the wave is called the crest and the lowest point is called the trough. The line through the center of the wave is the resting position of the medium if there was no wave passing through.

Wave: The repeating and periodic disturbance that travels through a medium (e.g. water) from one location to another location. Wave Crest: The highest part of a wave. Wave Trough: The lowest part of a wave. Wave Height: The vertical distance between the wave trough and the wave crest.