NOTES ON WAVES

GRADE 9- BASIC PHYSICS

INTRODUCTION:
A wave is a disturbance in a medium that carries energy without a net movement of particles. It may take the form of elastic
de f o r m a t i o n , a va r i a t i o n o f pr e s s u r e , e l e c t r i c or m a g n e t i c in t e n s i t y , e l e c t r i c po t e n t i a l , o r te m p e r a t u r e .
 Transfers energy.
 Usually involves a periodic, repetitive movement.
 Does not result in a net movement of the medium or particles in the medium (mechanical wave).

There are some basic properties/characteristics of a wave.

 Wavelength is the distance between two successive identical parts of the wave.
 Amplitude is the maximum displacement from the neutral position. This represents the energy of the wave.
(Greater amplitude carries greater energy)
 Displacement is the position of a particular point in the medium as it moves as the wave passes. Maximum displacement is
the amplitude of the wave
 Frequency (ƒ) is the number of repetitions per second in Hz,

 Period (T) is the time for one wavelength to pass a point. (The period is the reciprocal of the frequency and vice versa)

 The velocity (v) of the wave is the speed at which a specific part of the wave passes a point. The speed of a wave refers to
the distance travelled by a given point on the wave (crest) in a given interval of time.

2 Categories of wave:
Mechanical Waves -Require a medium (material) to travel through (Examples: water waves, sound waves)
Electromagnetic Waves -Do not require a medium (Example: light travels through empty space)

TYPES OF WAVES: TRANSVERSE OR LONGITUDINAL

The motion of particles in a wave can be either perpendicular to the

wave direction (transverse) or parallel to it (longitudinal).

 Earthquakes produce both longitudinal and transverse waves. Both

types can travel through solid material, but only longitudinal waves
can propagate through a fluid—in the transverse direction, a fluid has
no restoring force.
TRANSVERSE WAVE -Matter moves perpendicular to the direction of wave movement.

Parts of Transverse Wave:

 Crest -the highest point of the wave.
 Trough - the lowest point of the wave.
 Amplitude -Intensity of the wave
-How much energy is transferred
 Wavelength -The distance from one point on a wave to
the same point on the next wave.

LONGITUDINAL WAVE -Matter moves parallel to the direction of wave movement.

Parts of Transverse Wave:

Compression: where the particles are close
together.
Rarefaction: where the particles are spread apart.

REFLECTION AND TRANSMISSION

 A wave encountering a denser medium will be partly

reflected and partly transmitted; if the wave speed is
less in the denser medium, the wavelength will be shorter.

 Two- or three-dimensional waves can be represented by

wave fronts, which are curves of surfaces where all the
waves have the same phase.
 Lines perpendicular to the wave fronts are called rays;
they point in the direction of propagation of the wave.

REFLECTION REFRACTION DIFFRACTION

SOUND WAVES
 A sound wave is fundamentally a pressure disturbance that propagates through a medium by particle
interaction. In other words, sound waves move through a physical medium by alternately contracting
and expanding the section of the medium in which it propagates.
 A sound wave is a mechanical, longitudinal wave produced by a vibration of matter.
 The rate at which the sound waves propagate through the medium is known as the speed of sound. Since
the speed of sound is the distance travelled by the sound wave in a given time, the speed of sound can
be determined by the following formula: v = λ f
Where v is the velocity, λ is the wavelength of the sound wave, and f is the frequency.
 The relationship between the speed of sound, its frequency, and wavelength is the same as for all waves.
 The wavelength of a sound is the distance between adjacent compressions or rarefactions.
 The frequency is the same as the source’s and is the number of waves that pass a point per unit time.

Characteristics of sound
1. Wavelength: The most important characteristic of sound waves may be the wavelength. Sound consists
of a longitudinal wave that includes compressions and rarefactions as they travel through a given
medium. The distance that one wave travels before it repeats itself is the wavelength. It is the combined
length of a compression and the adjacent rarefaction, or the distance between the centers of two
consecutive rarefactions or compressions.
 Timber -The tone quality of sound depends on the waveform of the sound wave.
-If two sounds have different waveforms, we usually perceived different tone qualities.

2. Amplitude: The amplitude is the size of a given wave. Think of it as sort of like the wave’s height as
opposed to its length. The amplitude is more accurately defined as the maximum displacement of the
particles the sound wave disturbs as it passes through a medium.
 Loudness -The intensity of a sound wave
-The phenomenon of sound depends on the amplitude of the sound wave. If the
amplitude of the sound wave is large, then the sound is said to be loud.
-It is directly proportional to the square of the amplitude of vibration. If the amplitude of
the sound wave becomes double, then the loudness of the sound will be quadrupled.
-It is expressed in decibel (dB).
-Sounds above 80 dB becomes noise to human ears.

3. Frequency: The frequency of sound refers to the number of sound waves a sound produces per second.
A low-frequency sound has fewer waves, while a high-frequency sound has more. Sound frequency is
measured in hertz (HZ) and is not dependent upon the medium the sound is passing through.
 Pitch -This depends on the frequency of vibration of the waves.
-If the frequency of vibration is higher, we say that the sound is shrill and has a high pitch.
On the other hand, if the sound is said to have a lower pitch then it has a lower frequency of vibration.
-A bird produces a high-pitched sound whereas roaring of a lion is a low-pitched sound.
-The voice of a woman has a higher pitch than that of a man.
-Humans can hear frequencies from 20Hz – 20,000Hz
-The highness and lowness of sound.
Depends almost completely on the frequency of the wave. The greater the frequency, the higher the
pitch.
The pitch is the reason behind the difference in voice quality of different individuals.

4. Time Period – The time period is almost the opposite of the frequency. It is the time required to produce
a single complete wave, or cycle. Each vibration of the vibrating body producing the sound is equal to a
wave.

5. Velocity – finally, the velocity of the wave, sometimes referred to as the speed, is the amount of
distance in meters per second that a wave travels in one second.
 How Do Sound Wave Characteristics Affect What You Hear?
There is a direct relationship between frequency and pitch and between amplitude and loudness.

Specifically, the more sound waves a sound produces, the higher the pitch. Meaning if a sound has a high
frequency, it will produce a high-pitched, shrill sound, while sounds with a lower frequency produce lower,
deeper sounds, like bass sounds. A sound of one frequency is called a tone. You may have heard one if you
have ever heard someone use a tuning fork. This is also sometimes called a “pure” sound.

The relationship between amplitude and loudness is quite simple. The higher the amplitude, the louder the
sound. This can be understood logically. A higher amplitude means more particles in a given medium are
being displaced, which we would expect to produce more sound.

Factors Affecting the Speed of Sound

 Density and temperature of the medium in which the sound wave travels affect the speed of sound.

Density of the Medium

 When the medium is dense, the molecules in the medium are closely packed, which means that the
sound travels faster. Therefore, the speed of sound increases as the density of the medium increases.

Temperature of the Medium

 The speed of sound is directly proportional to the temperature. Therefore, as the temperature
increases, the speed of sound increases.

Speed of Sound in Different Media

 The speed of the sound depends on the density and the elasticity of the medium through which it travels.
In general, sound travels faster in liquids than in gases and quicker in solids than in liquids. The greater
the elasticity and the lower the density, the faster sound travels in a medium.

Speed of Sound in Solid

 Sound is nothing more than a disturbance propagated by the collisions between the particles, one
molecule hitting the next and so forth. Solids are significantly denser than liquids or gases, and this
means that the molecules are closer to each other in solids than in liquids and liquids than in gases.
This closeness due to density means that they can collide very quickly. Effectively it takes less time
for a molecule of a solid to bump into its neighbouring molecule. Due to this advantage, the
velocity of sound in a solid is faster than in a gas.

 The speed of sound in solid is 6000 metres per second, while the speed of sound in steel is equal to
5100 metres per second. Another interesting fact about the speed of sound is that sound travels 35
times faster in diamonds than in the air.

Speed of Sound in Liquid

 Similarly, the density of a liquid is greater than the density of a gas. Therefore the distances
between molecules are more in liquids than in solids but are less than in gases. Hence the speed of
sound in liquids lies in between the speed of sound in solids and gases.
 Speed of Sound in Water
 The speed of sound in water is more than that of the air, and sound travels faster in water than in the
air. The speed of sound in water is 1480 metres per second. It is also interesting that the speed may
vary between 1450 to 1498 metres per second in distilled water. In contrast, seawater’s speed is
1531 metres per second when the temperature is between 20oC to 25oC.

Speed of Sound in Gas

 We should remember that the speed of sound is independent of the density of the medium when it
enters a liquid or solid. Since gases expand to fill the given space, density is relatively uniform
irrespective of gas type, which isn’t the case with solids and liquids. The velocity of sound in gases
is proportional to the square root of the absolute temperature (measured in Kelvin). Still, it is
independent of the frequency of the sound wave or the pressure and the density of the medium. But
none of the gases we find in real life is ideal gases, and this causes the properties to change slightly.
The velocity of sound in air at 20oC is 343.2 m/s which translates to 1,236 km/h.

Speed of Sound in Vacuum

 The speed of sound in a vacuum is zero metres per second, as there are no particles present in the
vacuum. The sound waves travel in a medium when there are particles for the propagation of these
sound waves. Since the vacuum is an empty space, there is no propagation of sound waves.

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM
 The electromagnetic spectrum, in simple terms, is defined as the range of all types of electromagnetic
radiation.
 The electromagnetic spectrum is a range of frequencies, wavelengths and photon energies covering
frequencies from below 1 hertz to above 1025 Hz, corresponding to wavelengths which are a few
kilometres to a fraction of the size of an atomic nucleus in the spectrum of electromagnetic waves.
Generally, in a vacuum, electromagnetic waves tend to travel at speeds which is similar to that of light.
However, they do so at a wide range of wavelengths, frequencies and photon energies.
 The electromagnetic spectrum consists of a span of all electromagnetic radiation which further contains
many subranges, which are commonly referred to as portions.

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM

The entire range (electromagnetic spectrum) is given by radio waves, microwaves, infrared radiation, visible
light, ultra-violet radiation, X-rays, gamma rays and cosmic rays in the increasing order of frequency and
decreasing order of wavelength. The type of radiation and their frequency and wavelength ranges are as
follows:

NOTE:
 All types of these
radiations travel with the
same velocity and require
no medium for their
propagation.
 The energy of
electromagnetic radiation
is directly proportional to
its frequency.
 Any increase in frequency
results in a subsequent
decrease in wavelength.
Therefore, wavelength and
frequency are inversely
proportional.
The electromagnetic spectrum can be depicted as follows:

Let us look into the uses of electromagnetic waves in our daily life.

1. Radio: A radio basically captures radio waves that are transmitted by radio stations. Radio waves can also
be emitted by gases and stars in space. Radio waves are mainly used for TV/mobile communication.
2. Microwave: This type of radiation is found in microwaves and helps in cooking at home/office. It is also
used by astronomers to determine and understand the structure of nearby galaxies and stars.
3. Infrared: It is used widely in night vision goggles. These devices can read and capture the infrared light
emitted by our skin and objects with heat. In space, infrared light helps to map interstellar dust.
4. X-ray: X-rays can be used in many instances. For example, a doctor can use an X-ray machine to take an
image of our bones or teeth. Airport security personnel use it to see through and check bags. X-rays are also
given out by hot gases in the universe.
5. Gamma-ray: It has a wide application in the medical field. Gamma-ray imaging is used to see inside our
bodies. Interestingly, the universe is the biggest gamma-ray generator of all.
6. Ultraviolet: The Sun is the main source of ultraviolet radiation. It causes skin tanning and burns. Hot
materials that are in space also emit UV radiation.
7. Visible: Visible light can be detected by our eyes. Light bulbs, stars, etc., emit visible light.

Spectroscopy: Spectroscopy is used to study the way different electromagnetic waves interact with matter.

Significance of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

The electromagnetic waves in these different bands have different characteristics depending upon how they
are produced, how they interact with matter and their practical applications. Maxwell’s equations predicted
the existence of an infinite number of frequencies of electromagnetic waves, all travelling with the speed of
light. This is the first indication of the existence of the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Nonetheless, the main significance of the electromagnetic spectrum is that it can be used to classify
electromagnetic waves and arrange them according to their different frequencies or wavelengths.

Practical Applications of Electromagnetic Waves

● The radio waves and microwaves discovered by Hertz paved the way for wireless television, radio and
mobile communication.

● The visible light portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is the reason for all visual aids in daily life. This
is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that helps us to see all objects, including colours.

● The X-rays discovered by Roentgen proved to be useful in medicine for detecting many ailments or
deformities in bones.

● The high ultraviolet radiation has energies to ionise the atoms causing chemical reactions.

● The gamma rays discovered by Paul Villard are useful for ionisation purposes and nuclear medicine.