| A | B |
|---|
| wave | a repeating disturbance |
| medium | matter in which a wave travels |
| transverse wave | wave in which the matter in the medium moves back and forth in the same direction the wave travels; the wave has crests and troughs. |
| compressional wave | a wave in which the matter in the medium moves back and forth in the same direction that the wave travels; the wave has compressions and rarefactions |
| crests | the highest points on a transverse wave |
| troughs | the lowest points on a transverse wave |
| rarefaction | the least dense regions of a compressional wave |
| wavelength | distance between one point on a wave and the nearest point just like it |
| frequency | the number of wavelengths that pass a fixed point each second; is expressed in hertz(Hz) |
| period | the amount of time it takes one wavelength to pass a fixed point; is expressed in seconds |
| amplitude | a measure of the energy carried by a wave |
| refraction | the bending of a wave as it changes speed in moving from one medium to another. |
| diffraction | the bending of a wave as it changes speed in moving from one medium to another. |
| interference | occurs when two or more waves overlap and combine to form a new wave. |
| standing wave | wave pattern that forms when waves of equal wavelength and amplitude, but traveling in opposite directions, continuously interfere with each other; has points called nodes that do not move |
| resonance | the process by which an object is made to vibrate by absorbing energy at its natural frequencies |
