DAYAHA SECONDARY

SCHOOL
FORM FOUR PHYSICS
CHAPTER SEVEN
WAVES

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 BEHAVIOR OF WAVES
Behaviour of waves

INTRODUCTION
A wave is a travelling disturbance in a medium that transfers energy and information from its
source to another points without transferring the particles of the medium.
Sound waves cannot be transmitted through a vacuum. The particles of the medium vibrate
around their fixed positions. The moving waves or (waves that transfer energy) are called
progressive waves. The waves which can be propagated only in a material medium are called
Mechanical waves e.g. waves on water surface, sound waves etc. waves that don’t need
material medium are called electromagnetic waves.
TYPE OF WAVE MOTION
There are two types of wave motion namely transverse waves and longitudinal waves. That can
be distinguished by how the particles of medium vibrate with the direction of wave motion.
1. LONGITUDINAL WAVES
When the particles of a medium vibrate parallel to the directions of propagations of
disturbance, the wave motion is called the longitudinal wave.

Longitudinal waves have compressions and rarefactions

 A compression is a region of the medium, in which the particles of medium come closer to
each other than the normal distance between them; it has high pressure and small volume.
 A rarefaction is a region of the medium, in which particles of the medium move apart from
each other than the normal distance between them, it has low pressure and large volume.

2. TRANSVERSE WAVE
Waves that the displacement of the particles is at right angles to the direction of wave
motion are called transverse waves. In a transverse wave the particles of the medium
vibrates up and downward to the direction of wave.

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LONGITUDNAL WAVE
1. a longitudinal wave, the particles of the
medium vibrate about their mean
position in the same direction to the
direction of the propagation.
2. Longitudinal waves travel in the form
of compressions and Rarefaction.
3. There is a change of density of the
medium which is higher in compression
as compared to rarefaction.
4. Longitudinal waves cannot be
polarised.
5. Sound waves are longitudinal waves In
nature.
TRANSVERSE WAVE
In a transverse wave, the particles of the
medium vibrate about their mean position
at right angle to the direction of
propagation.
Transverse wave travel in the form of
crests and troughs.
There is no change of density of the waves.
Transverse waves can be polarised.
Light waves or all electromagnetic waves
are transverse in nature

CHARACTERISTICS OF WAVES
1. WAVE LENGTH
The distance between the two successive crests or troughs is known as the wavelength. (Or)
It can also be defined as the distance travelled by the waves during a time when the
vibrating particle of medium completes one cycle. In other words, it is the shortest distance
between two points on a wave that are in phase.

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 symbol of wavelength is a Greek letter called lambda(λ)
 the unit of wavelength is meter(m)

Example
From the diagram below determine its wavelength?

2. Amplitude
The amplitude of a wave refers to the maximum displacement of a particle on the medium from
its rest position.
 Unit of amplitude is meter (m)
 The energy of the wave is carried by the amplitude of the waves.

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Example: 2
A longitudinal sound wave has a speed of 340m/s in air, if its wavelength is 0.85m, what is its
frequency?

Example: 3
The diagram below shows a water wave in a small triple tank which has speed of 16cm/s From
the diagram above
a. Determine the wavelength of the wave?
b. Determine amplitude of the wave?
c. Calculate the frequency of the wave?

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 3. Frequency
Frequency is the number of compressions produced per second. The unit of frequency is
Hertz (Hz)

Example:1
Calculate the frequency and the amplitude each of the following diagrams.

4. PERIOD (T)

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 Period of the wave is the time taken for one complete cycle (wave).or is the time taken for a
wave to move a distance of one wavelength.
 Its unit is second(s).

5. WAVE SPEED
 The speed of the wave is the distance travelled by a crest per unit time taken.
 Its is measured in meter per second (m/s)

Example: 1
If a wave with a frequency of 400Hz and wavelength of 2m is produced from a source
A. Find the speed of the wave?
B. Find the period of the wave?

PROPERTIES OF WAVES
1. REFLECTION OF WAVES
Reflection of a wave occurs when a wave strikes an obstacle such as barrier, plane reflector,
mirror and wall. The reflection of waves obeys the law of reflection:
a. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
b. The incident wave, the reflected wave and the normal lie in the same plane.

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 Reflection of water waves
The shape and the direction of the reflected waves depend on:-
1. The shape of the incident waves.
2. Shape of the reflecting surface
2. REFRACTION OF WAVE
Refraction is the changing of the direction of
wave when it travels from one medium into
another of different densities. When wave is
refracted, the refraction changes
1. Wavelength of the wave
2. Direction of the wave , But the
frequency does not change (or
remains constant)
3. It is caused by a change of speed of
the wave
3. DIFFRACTION
Diffraction refers to the bending of waves around
an edge of an object. The spreading of waves is
called diffraction when it passes through gap or
go around obstacle. For example, if you stand
along an outside wall of a building near the corner,
you can hear people talking around the corner.

4. INTERFERENCE
Interference is said to occur when waves from two or more coherent sources superpose with one
another producing a resultant wave.

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 STANDING WAVE
A standing wave is an interference pattern that is set up when two waves of the same frequency,
same speed, travel in opposite directions in the same medium. The interference of such waves
produce points where the displacement of the standing wave is always zero (and the standing
wave has zero amplitude), these points are called nodes. Between two consecutive nodes there
are regions of maximum displacement (where the amplitude of standing wave is larger) which
are called antinodes.

CONDITIONS FOR FORMATION OF STATIONARY WAVES

When two progressive waves of equal amplitude and equal frequency travelling with the same
speed in opposite directions are superposed, a stationary or standing wave is formed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF STATIONARY WAVES
1. The waveform remains stationary.
2. Nodes and antinodes are formed alternately.
3. The points where displacement is zero are called nodes and the points where the displacement
is maximum is called antinode.
4. Pressure changes are maximum at nodes and minimum at antinodes.
5. Amplitude of each particle is not the same; it is maximum at antinode decreases gradually and is
zero at the nodes.

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6. The velocity of the particles at the nodes is zero. It increases gradually and is maximum at the
antinodes.
7. Distance between any two consecutive nodes or antinodes are equal to 1/2 λ, where as the
distance between a node and its adjacent antinodes is equal to 1/4 λ.

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