What is a transverse wave?
A wave where oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of wave travel.
Give two examples of transverse waves.
Light waves and waves on a rope.
What is a longitudinal wave?
A wave where oscillations are parallel to the direction of wave travel.
Give an example of a longitudinal wave.
Sound waves.
What is the key difference between transverse and longitudinal waves?
In a transverse wave, oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of travel. In a longitudinal wave, oscillations are parallel to the direction of travel.
What is a compression in a longitudinal wave?
A region where particles are close together, producing high pressure.
What is a rarefaction in a longitudinal wave?
A region where particles are far apart, producing low pressure.
How do sound waves travel through air?
Sound travels as longitudinal waves made of compressions and rarefactions of air molecules.
How are pressure and displacement related in sound waves?
Sound waves involve pressure variations caused by particles oscillating back and forth around their equilibrium positions.
How can a longitudinal wave be represented on a graph?
It can be shown as a displacement-distance graph, similar to a transverse wave.
What can be measured from a longitudinal wave graph?
Wavelength and amplitude.
What types of seismic waves show longitudinal and transverse motion?
P-waves are longitudinal and S-waves are transverse.
Why does a louder sound have greater amplitude?
Larger amplitude means greater particle displacement, causing larger pressure variations, which are heard as louder sound.
When defining transverse and longitudinal waves in exams, what two things must be stated?
The direction of oscillations and the direction of wave travel.
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1.1.1 Velocity, Acceleration, Motion Graphs39
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1.1.2 Kinematic equations37
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1.1.3 Adding and resolving vectors38
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1.1.4 Moments32
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1.1.5 Newton’s laws of motion43
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1.1.6 Projectile Motion35
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1.2 Energy, work and power29
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1.3 Momentum25
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3A.1 Wave Basics18
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3A.2 Wave types14
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3B.1 wave phase and superposition14
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3B.2 Stationary waves19
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3B.3 Diffraction15
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3B.4 wave interference14
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3C.1 Refraction15
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3C.2 Total internal refraction18
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3C.3 Polarisation19
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3D.1 Wave particle duality21
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3D.2 the photoelectric effect21
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3D.3 Electron diffraction and interference21
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3D.4 atomic electron energies27
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4A.1 electric circuits24
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4A.2 electrical energy transfer22
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4A.3 current and voltage relationships22
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4A.4 resistivity26
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4A.5 conduction and resistance27
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4A.6 semiconductors33
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4B.1 series and parallel circuits33
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4B.2 Electrical circuit rules25
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4B.3 Potential dividers30
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4B.4 emf and internal resistance30
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4B.5 power in electric circuits36
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practical unit 3119
