WAVES

Waves are disturbances which transmits energy from one point to another through oscillations.
This wave motion transfers energy from place to place without the transfer of material (matter).
DIFFERENT TYPES OF WAVES
1. Pulse
2. Wave Train
3. Stationary
4. Progressive
5. Transverse
6. Longitudinal

PULSES: These are waves that are not periodic and last for only an instant. These waves are
short lived.
e.g.: A pebble dropped in water produces a ripple that oscillates briefly and then
disappears.
e.g.: A brief pulse of light from a flash gun and crack of pistol.

WAVE TRAIN: Is a continuous group of waves with features which repeat regularly,
(periodic). The waves are continuous.

PROGRESSIVE WAVE/ TRAVELLING WAVE: This is the movement or a disturbance

which carries energy away from a source.
e.g.: Someone talks, sound leaving their mouth entering your ear.

Diagram illustrating a Progressive Wave

STATIONARY WAVE/ STANDING WAVE: This is a wave in constant position. It is

produced by a simultaneous travelling of two identical waves in opposite directions. Net energy
is not taken away or delivered to the source. The amplitude varies from zero at a node to a
maximum at an antinode.

Diagram illustrating a Stationary Wave

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TRANSVERSE WAVE: Waves in which the displacement of the particles is at right angles to
the direction of travel of the wave motion.
e.g.: Electromagnetic waves
e.g.: Water waves

Diagram illustrating a Transverse and Longitudinal Wave

Longitudinal Wave: These are waves in which displacements of the particles are parallel to the
direction of the travel of the wave motion.

WAVE PARAMETERS
1. Speed, v/c: is the distance moved forward by a crest/ trough or a compression/ rarefaction in
one second. This is the speed of propagation or travel of the wave.

2. Amplitude:
This is the maximum displacement of any part of the wave (or wave particle) from its
equilibrium position.
It is the height of a crest or depth of a trough measured from the undisturbed position.

3. Period, T:
The period, T, of a wave is the time taken to make one complete oscillation. The period
of a wave can be taken from a displacement time graph.

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4. Frequency, f:
This is the number of waves passing any given point in one second or the number of
complete vibrations/oscillations made in one second.
Unit of frequency: Hertz (Hz)
1 1
Formula: 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 = 𝑇
1 1
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 = 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑇 = 𝑓

5. Wave length/ λ:
This is the distance from any point on the wave to the adjacent point with similar oscillation.
Or, it’s the distance between two adjacent or successive crests, rarefactions or compressions.
i.e. The distance where one complete wave starts to repeat itself.

6. Phase:
Is a measure of the timing relationship between two waves or two different points on one
wave.

WAVE EQUATION
Velocity of wave = wave length x frequency
𝑣= 𝜆 𝑓
c = velocity of wave (m/s)
λ = wave length (m)
f = frequency (Hz)

csound = 330 m/s

clight = 3 x108 m/s

NB:
 Longer waves lengths have smaller frequencies
 Shorter wave lengths have longer frequencies

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 WAVE PHENOMENA
All waves undergo the following:
1. Reflection
2. Refraction
3. Diffraction

Reflection: Is the change in direction of the wave front at an interface between two different
medium so that the wave front returns into the medium from which it is originated.
This property of waves obeys two (2) simple laws, which are the laws governing there
reflection of light rays:
i. The angle of incidence and the angle or reflection are equal;
ii. The incident ray, the reflected ray and normal at the point of incidence all lie in the same
plane.

sin i = sin r

Refraction: The bending of a wave when it crosses a boundary between media due to a change
in the velocity of the wave.
It is an abrupt change in direction of propagation when the water waves move from water of one
depth to water of a different depth is another property of water waves. The change may be
observed only when surface waves are incident obliquely at a boundary between deep and
shallow water. An analysis of this phenomenon allows us to relate this change of direction to the
change in the speed of the wave as it travels from deep to shallow water.

𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒊 𝝀𝒅 𝒗𝒅
= =
𝒔𝒊𝒏 𝒓 𝝀𝒔 𝒗𝒔

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Diffraction: This is the spreading of waves at the edges of objects. It refers to various
phenomena which occur when a wave encounters an obstacle. It is described as the apparent
bending of waves around small obstacles and the spreading out of waves past small openings.

SOUND WAVES
Production and Propagation
1. Propagation of sound in a medium
a. Produced by vibrating objects, e.g vocal cords vibrate when you speak.
b. Remember sound is longitudinal
c. Compression and rarefactions (also correspond to graph)
d. Sound is a mechanical wave, i.e. It needs a medium to be propagated. It cannot travel in a
vacuum.

2. Definition of pitch and loudness in terms of wave parameters

a. For pitch (frequency), quality which sound waves are bass and which are treble.
b. For loudness is the volume thus, [amplitude] of a wave.

Most of the sun’s energy that makes 93,000,000 mile journey is in the form of visible and ultra
violet electromagnetic waves. Heat is produced when high frequency light (UV and visible have
short wave lengths) is converted into low frequency, long wavelength infrared radiation.
Ultraviolet and visible light easily passes through glass, however when they strike a surface they
are absorbed (by blackened copper absorbed plate) and emitted as long wavelength infrared
radiation. The glass traps these long waves. This is known as the green house effect.

IN NATURE
The plants and soil etc. absorb the short wavelengths incoming and emit the longer wavelength
infrared radiation. When the infrared radiation tries to leave the earth’s surface, carbon dioxide
(which is a green house gas) is also capable of trapping long wave radiation (acts on the glass).
This is known as global warming. Carbon Dioxide emissions are a consequence of combustion
of fossil fuels.

Radiation Interactions
As the electromagnetic waves travel through space, their energy interacts with matter. In a
simplified view, one of the following interactions occurs:
1. Reflection off the object
2. Absorption by the object
3. Transmission through the object

The total amount of radiation which strikes an object is referred to as the incident
radiation and is equal to = 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 + 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 +
𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

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Absorption and Emission
The incident radiation that is absorbed can then be emitted. Emission allows us to feel if a body
is hot.
 Good absorbers are also good emitters vice versa.

Refractive Relationship
sin 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 sin 𝜃1 𝑣𝑖 𝜆𝑖 𝑓 𝜆𝑖
= = = =
sin 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃2 𝑣𝑟 𝜆𝑟 𝑓 𝜆𝑟

DIFFRACTION

The spreading or bending of waves as they pass through an aperture (gap); or around the end of a
barrier.

The effects of diffraction:

1. WIDE GAP: Diffraction is not obvious. The waves are bent only at the edges.
2. NARROW GAP: Diffraction is obvious. The waves are circular and originate from small
slits.
3. LARGE WAVELENGTH: Diffraction is more obvious. The waves have a lower frequency
but a higher wavelength.

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HENCE:
4. Diffraction Is more obvious when:
i. The gap is narrower. (the narrower the gap the more the wave bends).
ii. The frequency of the wave is lower. i.e. the wave length is longer.

BARRIER
a. When there is a large barrier in front a wave, the diffraction is not noticeable, and the waves
do not recombine.

b. When there is a small barrier in front a wave, diffraction is obvious. The waves recombine
after passing the obstacle.

NB:
The size of the object affects how much the eave diffracts. The smaller the obstacle, the more the
wave would diffract.
The degree of diffraction depends on the wave length of the wave and the size of the opening
(gap) or obstacle.
Generally, the degree of diffraction depends on the wave length of the wave.

Why you can’t see around a corner

The wave length of light is about 6 x 10-7 metres which is very short compared to sound. The
wave length is so short that no significant diffraction is obtained in the environment.

Phase of a Wave
This term is used to describe the relative position of the crest or trough of two waves that have
the same frequency.
Waves can either be ‘In Phase’ or ‘Out of Phase’.

a. In Phase – crest & trough occur at the same line.

b. Out of Phase – one wave lags behind
c. Completely out of phase (Anti Phase) – one trough of one wave meets the crest of the other
wave

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 INTERFERENCE
This is the interaction of two or more wave motions affecting the same part of the medium so
that the disturbances at an instance, produces a resultant wave that is equal to a vector sound of
the individual disturbances.

Types of Interference:
i. Constructive Interference:
The displacement at the crest of one wave has been added to the displacement at the crest of
the other wave to produce a larger displacement. Hence two waves together have constructed
a larger amplitude wave.
ii. Destructive Interference:
The crest of one wave has filled in the trough of the other to produce no displacement of
water. Hence the two wave motions have destroyed each other. A wave with a wave length of
zero is produced, no wave or a smaller wave.

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 Principle of Superposition Applied to Waves
When the principle of superposition is applied to wave phenomenon the combined effect of any
number of interacting waves at a point may be obtained by the algebraic summation of the
amplitudes of all the waves at the point.
The superposition of two waves, W1 and W2, with a frequency f, produces a disturbance with the
same frequency. The amplitude of the resultant disturbance is related to the individual
component wave.

Principle of superposition of waves

The displacement of any particle caused by overlapping waves is the sum of the separate
displacements caused by each wave at a particular movement.

Interference of Water Waves

This can be demonstrated in two ways:
- Using 2 coherent point sources
- Double-slit interference

Using two (2) Coherent point sources

The sources are 2 dipers on the same vibrator so they will produce waves in phase, same
frequency and amplitude.

Double-slit
First the waves diffract become circular waves and consequently interfere.
The plane waves produced are diffracted when they pass through the slit producing circular
waves that consequently interfere.

NB: These methods produce the same results.

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RESULTS:
An interference pattern appears at a series of bands. These bands are alternated, very rough water
and then undisturbed water.

Label the diagram above, after reading the explanation below:

Two crests and two troughs meet at point P and Q respectively, resulting in constructive
interference.
Hence point P and Q are known as ANTINODES where constructive interference occurs (very
rough water).
At point R a crest meets a trough resulting in destructive interference. Point R is known as the
NODE (undisturbed water).

Interference of Sound Waves

The same principle applies for sound waves.
At the point of constructive interference the sound is loud, but for destructive interference the
sound is quiet.
It is almost impossible to prevent sound waves from reaching in the quiet spots because of the
reflection of sound from the waves and nearby objects.

Electro Magnetic Waves

Properties of E.M.W
- All electromagnetic waves are transverse waves
- All E.M.W have the same speed.
CE.M. in Air or a Vacuum = 3 x 103 m/s
The wavelength and frequency of each type of E.M wave varies. As wavelength becomes longer
the frequency is lowered but speed remains the same.

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 SOUND WAVES

Sound waves occur due to the disturbance of air particles from the source to the ear. Sound can
travel through solids, liquids and gases. There is plenty of evidence of this, for example, sounds
from distant sources reach our ears through the air and sounds can be heard through solids walls.
Whales communicate by sound over great distances through the sea.

Diffraction
Sound waves are diffracted around wide openings such as doorways and obstacles in nature
because their wavelengths are comparable to the width of doors and even with obstacles in our
environment.

Reflection of Sound
Sound waves are reflected well from hard flat surfaces such as walls or cliffs.
Reflected sounds are known as ECHOES.
When sound is reflected its angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.
e.g sound pulses can be sent by ships as a signal to the bottom of the sea to determine its depts.

Sound waves
It can be used to detect shoals of fish. The use of sound echoes can be used in many other
applications.
*Applications used to determine depth of rocks in a geological survey, a pulse of ultrasound is
transmitted from the surface of the earth into the ground. The ultra sound is reflected from a
layer of hard rock.

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 The time interval between the transmission of the pulse and the reception of the reflected pulse
is 2.4 seconds. If the speed of the ultra sound in the ground is 200 ms-1, what is the depth of the
rock from the surface?
2d = v t
𝑑 = 1⁄2 𝑣 𝑡
𝑑 = 0.5 × 2000 × 2.4𝑠
= 2400 m

Refraction of Sound
The speed of sound waves in air is affected by a temperature. If sound waves pass through layers
of air at different temperature it would be refracted.

In warm air (less dense air) sound travels faster than it does in cooler (more dense) air. Its
wavelength in normal air is longer than it is in cooler air.

NB: Waves travel faster in a less dense medium than they do in a more dense medium.
Refraction of sound can also occur when sound moves from air to water (medium of different
densities).

Sound Spectrum
Sound waves have different frequencies and so form a spectrum similar to the electromagnetic
spectrum. However, the sound spectrum has much lower frequencies and much simplier with
only 3 frequency regions. These regions are referred to as the audible range of human hearing,
which is about 20 Hz to 20 KHz and the audible region of the spectrum.

Production and Propagation of Sound

Sound waves involve the longitudinal displacement in any type of matter, solid, liquid and gases.

Travelling Sound Waves

A progressive sound wave carries energy from a source e.g loud speaker, mouth to the receiver
(ears). Where in the case of the ear drum, the sub cession of compression and rarefactions causes
the ear drum to vibrate.
As sound travels through air, the air molecules vibrate producing changes in pressure along the
direction of the wave. There are alternative regions of high and low pressure known as
compression and rarefactions respectively.

Compression
Molecules collide, with particles that are closer to the source causing them to move forward
when they meet with molecules which are further from the source, that are bouncing backwards
causing a region of high pressure to develop.

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Rarefaction
The region of low pressure is known as a rarefaction which is between compressions. Here the
number of molecules is reduced making the pressure lower.

Sound in a Vacuum
Sound leaves a medium in order for it to be propagated making it a mechanical wave.
SOUND cannot travel through a vacuum. Sound cannot be heard in the vacuum because there
is medium for the wave to disturb.
We cannot hear the nuclear explosions on the Sun because there is no medium in space.
Astronauts cannot speak to each other on the Moon without using radio waves, because there is
no air on the moon through which sound waves can travel.

Amplitude and Frequency of Sound Waves

Amplitude
The amplitude/ volume of a sound wave is the amount of pressure exerted by a sound wave on
the air molecules. The higher the pressure on the air molecules the larger the amplitude and the
louder sound is produced.
If the pressure exerted on air molecules are higher, the air molecules collide with each other
harder. Thus the molecules can travel further this means the air molecules will have more
energy.

NB: For any wave, the energy transmitted by a wave is directly proportional to the square of its
amplitude.

Frequency
As the frequency of a sound wave increases so does the pitch of the sound so as a high pitch
sound would be produced from a high frequency note.

Sound is a longitudinal wave motion and, being mechanical, requires a medium to travel
through. Sound travels as longitudinal mechanical wave motion.
Sound waves in air are travelling pressure waves.
Sound waves produces compressions and rarefactions of the (invisible) air molecules.
In between the compressions are rarefactions, where the number of molecules is reduced and the
air pressure is lower.

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A sound wave in air is a travelling pressure wave in which regions of increased air pressure
travel along where the air molecules are compressed together, separated by regions of reduced
air pressure at the rarefactions.

The travelling sound wave carries energy through the air without carrying the air molecules
along with it.
The distance between two successive compressions or two pressure maxima is the
wavelength λ of the longitudinal sound wave.
- The PITCH of a sound depends on FREQUENCY.
- The higher the frequency of the wave, the higher the pitch.
The lower the frequency of the wave, the lower the pitch.

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EQUATION TO DETERMINE THE SPEED OF SOUND WAVE
𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅
𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒗𝒆 =
𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆
𝟐𝒔
𝒗=
𝒕

HEARING AND USING SOUNDS

The human hearing range is about 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
- Above 20 kHZ the waves are known as ULTRASONIC (beyond sound).
- Below 20 Hz the vibrations are felt rather than heard and are called SUBSONIC.
Some animals can hear ultrasonic frequencies and bats use ultrasound in the same way as radar
to ‘see’ with. Many uses have been found for ultrasound where it has several advantages over
audible sound.

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOISE AND MUSIC
Music contains recognizable common features. Most music uses sound of particular and constant
frequencies, combined together in various ways. Music also usually has a pattern or rhythm of
sounds, which are used according to a theme or plan.
Noise, however, is usually random in frequency, constantly varying without plan or purpose.

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 ULTRASOUND
These are sound vibrations and waves above the highest frequencies that humans can hear. They
are vibration frequencies above 20 kHz.

ULTRASOUND AT SEA
Ultrasound is used at sea to measure the distance to reflecting surfaces such as the seabed or
shoals of fish. Brief pulses of sound are sent out from a transmitter, and the time is measured
between the pulse of sound and when its echo is detected by a receiver.
Provided the speed of ultrasound in seawater is known, the distance can be calculated from:

𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 (𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌) = 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 × 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆

These waves have a shorter wavelength, therefore they are diffracted less than audible sound
waves. Less energy is lost by the waves spreading out, so the ultrasound can penetrate deeper
than sound could. It can also detect small objects with greater detail, which improves the
resolution of the image.
A disadvantage is that ultrasound has been shown to harm wildlife that depends on ultrasound
for communication, such as whales and dolphins.

ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE.
Ultrasound pulses reflect from boundaries tissues of different densities. A computer measures the
time, and so calculates the distance, to different boundaries. In this way a three dimensional
image of internal organs can be built up. This is safe then X-rays as it does not cause ionization
or tissue damage. It can also reveal details that don’t show up in X-rays or other techniques.

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 - Can be used to check the development of unborn babies
- Can be used to observe blood flow to monitor the heart and circulatory system
- Can be used for scanning of tumours.

ULTRASOUND IN INDUSTRY
In industries ultrasound can be used to:
- Check metal containers, aircraft and inaccessible machinery parts for cracks or damage
- Monitor the thickness of paint, sheets of paper and so on.
Clean delicate or inaccessible equipment, by causing vibrations that shake off dirt particles.

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