rarefaction

A longitudinal wave can be created in a slinky if the slinky is stretched out in a horizontal direction and the first coils of the slinky are vibrated horizontally. In such a case, each individual coil of the medium is set into vibrational motion in directions parallel to the direction that the energy is transported.

While transverse waves have crests and troughs, longitudinal waves have compressions and rarefactions. A compression is where the density of the wave medium is highest.

A longitudinal wave is a wave in which particles of the medium move in a direction parallel to the direction that the wave moves. Longitudinal waves are always characterized by particle motion being parallel to wave motion. A sound wave traveling through air is a classic example of a longitudinal wave.

A maneuver in which fans at a sports event simulate an ocean wave by rising quickly in sequence with arms upraised and then quickly sitting down again in a continuous rolling motion.

The wave nature of matter is one of the most counter-intuitive concepts in Physics. You have seen examples of both particle nature of light and wave nature of light. In the photoelectric effect, the electrons and photons exhibit the properties of a particle, just like a billiard ball.

Light behaves as both particles and waves at the same time, and scientists have been able to observe this duality in action using an ultrafast electron microscope. The wave nature is demonstrated in the wavy upper portion, while the particle behavior is revealed below, in the outlines showing energy quantization. (

The explanation is very simple: the packets of energy are very tiny, so tiny that you don’t notice the bumps. Einstein thought “If energy comes in packets, then light could come in packets too!”, he called this packets photons and now everything made sense.

Usually light is treated as either a wave or particles, because it behaves as such in some situations. The particles are called photons. Fire emits light, therefore fire creates photons from energy. The flame you see is air behaving as a plasma.

A particle is a small localized object to which can be ascribed several physical or chemical properties such as volume , density or mass . A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy through matter or space, with little or no associated mass transport.

Answer: But in more classical thinking,wave has wave length,velocity and frequency,while particle has specific rest mass,volume and density,if it moves with a velocity V it will be associated with a wave ,its length is l =h/p ,where h is Planck constant and p its momentum =mV, where m is its mass.

“Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.” On the most basic level, the equation says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable; they are different forms of the same thing. Under the right conditions, energy can become mass, and vice versa.

In this way, waves can have no mass but still carry momentum. In addition to being a particle, light is also a wave. This allows it to carry momentum, and therefore energy, without having mass.

Speed or Velocity of a Wave Another important property of a wave is the speed of propagation. This is how fast the disturbance of the wave is moving. The speed of mechanical waves depends on the medium that the wave is traveling through. For example, sound will travel at a different speed in water than in air.