A | B |
wave | A disturbance that transfers energy from place to place. |
medium | Material through which a wave travels. |
mechanical wave | A wave that requires a medium through which to travel. |
vibration | A repeated back-and-forth or up-and-down motion. |
compression wave | A wave that moves the medium parallel to the direction in which the wave travels. |
crest | The highest part of a transverse wave. |
trough | The lowest part of a transverse wave. |
longitudinal wave | A wave that moves the medium parallel to the direction in which the wave travels. |
compression | The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together. |
rarefaction | The part of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are far apart. |
amplitude | The maximum distance the particles of a medium move away from their rest positions as a wave passes through the medium. |
wavelength | The distance between the crest of one wave and the crest of the next. |
frequency | The number of complete waves that pass a given point in a certain amount of time. |
Hertz (Hz) | Unit of measurement for frequency. |
resonance | The increase in the amplitude of vibration that occurs when external vibrations match the object's natural frequency |
sonar | A system of detecting reflected sound waves. |
echolocation | The use of reflection of sound waves to navigate and locate prey. |
sonogram | An image formed by an ultrasound machine. |
ultrasound | Sound waves with frequencies above 20,000 Hz. |
Doppler effect | The apparent change in frequency of a sound as the source moves in relation to the listener. |
decibel (dB) | A unit of measurement of loudness. |