| A | B |
|---|
| A disturbance that transfers energy from place to place | Wave |
| Material through which a wave travels | Medium |
| A wave that requires a medium through which to travel | Mechanical wave |
| A repeated back-and-forth or up-and-down motion | Vibration |
| A wave that moves the medium in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels | Transverse wave |
| The highest part of a transverse wave | Crest |
| The lowest part of a transverse wave | Trough |
| A wave that moves the medium parallel to the direction in which the wave travels | Longitudinal wave |
| The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together | Compression |
| The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are far apart | Rarefaction |
| A wave that occurs at the surface between two mediums | Surface wave |
| The maximum distance the particles of a medium move away from their rest positions as a wave passes through the medium | Amplitude |
| The distance between the crest of one wave and the crest of the next | Wavelength |
| The number of complete waves that pass a given point in a certain amount of time | Frequency |
| Unit of measurement for frequency | Hertz (Hz) |
| The bouncing back of a wave when it hits a surface through which it cannot pass | Reflection |
| The angle between an incoming wave and an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the barrier or new medium | Angle of Incidence |
| The angle between a reflected wave and an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to the surface of the barrier | Angle of Reflection |
| The bending of waves as they enter a different medium | Refraction |
| The bending of waves around the edge of a barrier | Diffraction |
| The interaction between waves that meet | Interference |
| The interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a larger amplitude | Constructive interference |
| The interference that occurs when two waves combine to make a wave with a smaller amplitude | Destructive interference |
| A wave that appears to stand in one place, even though it is really two waves interfering as they pass through each other | Standing wave |
| A point of zero amplitude on a standing wave | Node |
| A point of maximum amplitude on a standing wave | Antinode |
| The increase in the amplitude of vibration that occurs when external vibrations match the object's natural frequency | Resonance |
| A wave produced by an earthquake | Seismic wave |
| A longitudinal seismic wave | Primary wave |
| A transverse seismic wave | Secondary wave |
| A surface wave on the ocean caused by an underwater earthquake | Tsunami |
| Instrument used to detect and measure earthquakes | Seismograph |
