Waves are a transfer of energy, not material. A wave starts as a vibration or a wiggle. A wiggle is a to and fro and to motion. So it goes back and forth and back. The top of a wave is called the crest and the bottom is called the trough. The amplitude is how big, how tall, or how much energy the wave has.
A medium is the material that a wave is going through such as a slinky. Today we did an activity to understand how a wave works transversely. Transverse waves is when a wave energy will move perpendicular to wave motion. The other type of wave is a longitudinal wave, which goes parallel rather than perpendicular.
Some ways that help us measure waves are wavelengths, periods, frequency and amplitude. A wave length is how long a wave is. (pretty self explanatory) A period is the time it takes to finish a cycle. Frequency is how frequently the wave comes by and amplitude is how big or tall a wave is. If the speed changes, then it changes how frequently a wave will come by.
When a wave interacts with another it's called an interference. It could be a constructive or destructive interference. This is when the waves join together. Constructive is when they go on top of each other when they interact. A destructive interference is when they go flat, when they interact. If a wave hits something, then it will bounce back.
A superposition is when the wave is in the same place at the exact same time.
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| The waves in the ocean are a good example of understanding waves. We always have to understand wave lengths and frequency and all that when we go swimming or surfing or anything like that. |
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