Waves: Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas Nafees

WAVES
Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas Nafees

WHERE DO WAVES COME FROM?
Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Why learn about waves?
• What experiences do we
already have about
waves?

OBJECTIVES:
• Understand what wave is
• Define the following terms:
Amplitude, wavelength, frequency, period, crest
and trough.
• Differentiate electromagnetic wave from
mechanical wave and give examples for each
• Differentiate longitudinal waves from
transverse waves and give examples for each
• Determine the wave velocity in a medium
• Name and explain the common properties of
waves: reflection, refraction, diffraction, and
interference.
Waves
 A wave is an
oscillation that
travels.

Waves
• When you drop a ball into water, some of

the water is pushed aside and raised by the
ball.

WAVES
• A wave is a disturbance traveling through a
medium or in a vacuum.

Energy Transmission by Wave
• Water waves move to the shore but water
does not file up in the shore.

Energy Transmission by Wave
• Useful in transmission
of information.
• Different
communication
systems use
electromagnetic waves,
particularly microwave
and radiowave, to
transmit information.

According to nature and direction of
vibration
CLASSIFICATION OF WAVES

Mechanical Waves
• Require a material medium to propagate
• Example: Sound waves. Sound cannot travel in

a vacuum.

Electromagnetic Waves
• Can travel in a vacuum and in material media
• Propagate through a vacuum (or air) with the

same speed, the speed of light :
3 x 108 m/s
• Examples: light, heat waves, radio waves and

microwaves.
Transverse Waves
• The particles of the medium are vibrating
perpendicularly to the direction of wave
propagation.
• Are made up of alternating hills (crests) and

valleys (troughs).

Longitudinal Waves
• The particles of the medium vibrate parallel
to the direction of wave propagation.
• Composed of:
– COMPRESSIONS where particles are closer
together
– RAREFACTIONS where they are farther
apart

ANATOMY OF A WAVE

Parts of a TRANSVERSE wave
• A crest is the high point of the wave.
• A trough is the low point.

• A crest is the high point of the wave.
• A trough is the low point.

• The amplitude of a water wave is the
maximum height the wave rises above the
level surface.

• Wavelength is the distance between one crest and
the next crest.

Parts of a LONGITUDINAL wave
• COMPRESSION - A region where the coils
are pressed together in a small amount of
space
• RAREFACTION - A region where the coils are
spread apart, thus maximizing the distance
between coils

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING:
• The wavelength of the wave in the diagram is
.
• The amplitude of the wave in the diagram is
.

FREQUENCY AND PERIOD

FREQUENCY
• of a wave refers to how often the
particles of the medium vibrate when a
wave passes through the medium.
• UNIT: Hertz

PERIOD
• of a wave is the time for a particle on a
medium to make one complete
vibrational cycle.

The speed of waves
• The speed is the distance traveled (one wavelength)
divided by the time it takes (one period).
• We usually calculate the speed of a wave by
multiplying wavelength by frequency.

BASIC WAVE EQUATION

PROBLEM SOLVING

• Calculate the velocity of a water wave if
the frequency is 400 Hz, the wavelength
is 6 m, and the amplitude of the wave
is
3.76 cm.

SPEED OF A TRANSVERSE WAVE:
• Where:
v = speed
F = stretching force or tension
m = mass per unit length

1. The linear density of a clothesline is
0.250 kg/m. How much tension does
Throcky have to apply to produce the
observed wave speed of 12.0 m/s?

2.A sound wave is travelling with a speed
of 343 m/s
a.calculate its frequency if the
wavelength of the wave is 500m.
b. Calculate its period

WAVE PROPERTIES

WAVE PROPERTIES
• Reflection
• Refraction
• Diffraction
• Interference
• Doppler Effect
• Polarization

REFLECTION
• When a wave travels through a medium, part
of it may be transmitted and the rest
reflected as it reaches the boundary of the
medium.

REFRACTION
• Waves that strike the medium boundary are
partly absorbed by the boundary.
• The remaining waves continue to move

through the boundary until they reach
another medium.
• The wave velocity on the other side of the
boundary will differ from that on the other
side.
INTERFERENCE
• is the phenomenon that occurs when two
waves meet while traveling along the same
medium

Constructive Interference
• two interfering waves have a displacement in
the same direction

Destructive Interference
• where the two interfering waves have a
displacement in the opposite direction

DIFFRACTION
• change in direction of waves as they pass
through an opening or around a barrier
in their path

DOPPLER EFFECT
• The frequency of a wave is perceived to
increase as the source of the wave moves
toward a stationary observer.

The stealth fighter
• The stealth fighter that
attacked the most
heavily fortified targets in
Iraq during Desert Storm
(1991) had been
engineered to avoid
detection of radar. It has
microwave absorbing
materials, angled shapes
that reduce its cross
sectional area, and
electronic jamming.

POLARIZATION
• Only transverse waves can be polarized
• To decrease the intensity of a wave

STANDING WAVES

STANDING WAVE PATTERN
• is a vibrational pattern
created within a medium
when the vibrational
frequency of the source
causes reflected waves
from one end of the
medium to interfere with
incident waves from the
source.
• NODES – points that
appear to be
standing still. These
points, sometimes
described as points
of no displacement.

• ANTI-NODES –
These are the points
that undergo the
maximum
displacement during
each vibrational
cycle of the standing
wave.

Harmonic # of Nodes # of Antinodes Pattern
1st 2 1
2nd 3 2
3rd 4 3
4th 5 4
5th 6 5
6th 7 6
nth n+1 n --

• The number of nodes in the standing wave
shown in the diagram is .
• The number of antinodes in the standing wave
shown in the diagram is .

SAMPLE PROBLEM
In a physics demonstration, Mr. H establishes a
standing wave pattern in a snakey by vibrating
it up and down with 32 vibrations in 10
seconds. Gerald is holding the opposite end of
the snakey and is standing 6.2 m from Mr. H's
end. There are four equal length sections in
the snakey, each occupied by an antinode.
Determine the frequency, wavelength and
speed of the wave.

Waves: Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas Nafees

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WAVES

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas Nafees

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

• When you drop a ball into water, some of

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

• Example: Sound waves. Sound cannot travel in

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

• Propagate through a vacuum (or air) with the

• Examples: light, heat waves, radio waves and

• Are made up of alternating hills (crests) and

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

• The remaining waves continue to move

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

Visiting Lecturer: M.Waqas

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