| A | B |
|---|
| wave | a disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another without requiring matter to move the entire distance |
| medium | a substance through which a wave moves |
| mechanical wave | a wave, such as a sound wave or an earthquake wave, that transfers energy through matter |
| transverse wave | a type of wave in which the disturbance moves at right angles, or perpendicular, to the direction in which the wave travels |
| longitudinal wave | a type of wave in which the disturbance moves in the same direction that the wave travels |
| crest | the highest point, or peak, of a wave |
| trough | the lowest point, or valley, of a wave |
| amplitude | the distance between a crest or trough of a wave and a line through the center of a wave |
| wavelength | the distance from one wave crest to the next crest, or from any part of one wave to the identical part on the next wave |
| frequency | the number of wavelengths (or wave crests) that pass a fixed point in a given amount of time, usually one second |
| reflection | the bouncing back of a wave after it strikes a barrier |
| refraction | the bending of a wave as it crosses the boundary between two mediums at an angle other than 90 degrees |
| diffraction | the spreading out of waves as they pass through an opening or around the edges of an obstacle |
| interference | the meeting and combining of waves; the adding or subtracting or wave amplitudes that occurs as waves overlap |
| node | the point where the wave crosses the rest position and appears not to move |
