TEACHER: MR CHIKOTE

SUBJECT: PURE PHYSICS

TOPIC: WAVE MOTION

SUB-TOPIC: WAVES

NOTES 12 GREEN
Waves
Definition: A wave is a disturbance in a medium which transmits energy
A wave front is a line joining points on a wave which are in phase
Types of waves
 Transverse waves
 Longitudinal waves
Transverse wave
Transverse wave is a wave in which the movement of particles is perpendicular to the directions
of travel of the wave

Examples of transverse waves

 Water waves
 Light
 A wave in a rope
Longitudinal wave
Longitudinal wave is a wave in which the movement of the particles is parallel to the direction of
travel of the wave
Examples of longitudinal waves
 Sound waves
 Waves on the spring
 Seismic wave(earth quake wave: a shock wave travelling through the earth from the
epicenter of an earth quake)
Graphs of waves
Graph of displacement against distance

Amplitude
Symbol: A
SI unit: Meter, m
Definition: Amplitude is the maximum displacement of a wave from its rest position (height of
crest or depth of trough)
Wave length
Symbol: λ
SI unit: Meter, m
Definition: Wave length is distance between two successive similar points on a wave
Graph of displacement against time
Period
Symbol: T
SI unit: Second, s
Definition: Period is the time taken for one complete wave to be generated
1
Formula: T =
f
Frequency
Symbol: f
SI unit: Hertz, Hz
Definition: Frequency is the number of waves generated per second
1
Formula: f =
T
Number of waves
f=
Time
Speed
Symbol: V
SI unit: Meter per second, m/s
Definition: Speed of a wave is the distance travelled by the wave in one second
Formula: V = λ x f
Example
1. Refer to the graph below

(a) What is the amplitude of the wave?

(b) What is the wavelength of the wave?
(c) Given that the speed of the wave is 4m/s, calculate its frequency

Solution
(a) A = 0.1m
 (b) λ = 0.08m
V
(c) f =
λ
4 m/s
f=
0.08 m
f = 50Hz
2. If 100 waves were produced in 5 seconds, what is the frequency?
Number of waves
f=
Time
100
f=
5
f = 20Hz
Considerations
Change of wavelength and speed of water waves
When a wave is travelling from:
(a) Deep water to shallow water:
(I) Wavelength decreases
(II) Speed decreases
(III) Frequency remains the same
(b) Shallow water to deep water
(I) Wavelength increases
(II) Speed increases
(III) Frequency remains the same