Vibrations and Waves

 A wave is a disturbance that carries energy through matter (a medium) or

space

 The source of all wave motion is a vibration.

 Waves transmit energy, not matter.

 Some of a wave's energy is always being dissipated as heat. In time, this

will reduce the wave's amplitude (displacement).

 A wave cannot exist in one place but must extend from one place to
another.

 Light and sound are both examples of waves.

Waves

• A wave is a disturbance that carries energy through matter (a medium) or

space:

– Electromagnetic waves - waves that can travel through empty

space. They do not require a medium.

• EM waves are transverse waves.

• The EM spectrum consists of waves including gamma rays,

x-rays, UV light, visible light, IR waves, microwaves and
radio waves.

• EM waves travel through space at the speed of light.

– Mechanical waves – waves that must travel through some form of

matter to carry their energy. Mechanical waves can be either
transverse or longitudinal waves.

• The matter that carries a wave is called the medium and includes matter
such as air, water, rock, metal, etc.

--A wave is a disturbance that carries energy through matter (a medium) or space:--
Electromagnetic Waves Mechanical Waves

• EM waves are waves that can travel • Mechanical waves are waves that must
through empty space. They do not travel through some form of matter to
require a medium. carry their energy.
• EM waves are transverse waves. • The matter that carries a wave is called
• The EM spectrum consists of waves the medium and includes matter such
including gamma rays, x-rays, UV light, as air, water, rock, metal, etc.
visible light, IR waves, microwaves and • Mechanical waves can be either
radio waves. transverse or longitudinal waves.
• EM waves travel through space at the • In a given medium, the speed of waves
speed of light. is constant. Waves travel very quickly
through solids, less quickly through
liquids and slowest through gases.

Transverse Waves Longitudinal Waves

• Transverse waves can be modeled by • Longitudinal waves can be modeled by

using a sine wave. using a spring.

• Types of transverse waves include EM • Sound waves are longitudinal waves.

waves and ocean waves. • Longitudinal waves are mechanical
• Depending on the type of wave, waves – they require a medium.
transverse waves may or may not
require a medium.
Mechanical Waves

Waves carry energy, not matter. Example: waves form as wind blows across the
water's surface, transferring energy to the water. As the energy moves through the
water, so do the waves. The water itself stays behind, rising and falling in circular
movements.

• The speed of a wave depends on the medium.

• In a given medium, the speed of waves is constant.

• Kinetic theory explains differences in wave speed.

• The closer the molecules are, the quicker vibrations are transferred.
Therefore, waves travel very quickly through solids, less quickly through
liquids and slowest through gases.
Transverse Waves

• In transverse waves, particles vibrate

at right angles to the direction the
wave travels.

• Transverse waves can be modeled by

using a sine wave.

• Types of transverse waves include EM

waves and ocean waves.

• Depending on the type of wave,

transverse waves may or may not
require a medium.

Longitudinal Waves

 In longitudinal waves, particles vibrate back

and forth in the same direction that the wave
travels.
 Longitudinal waves can be modeled by using a
spring.
 Sound waves are longitudinal waves.
 Longitudinal waves are mechanical waves –
they require a medium.
 Properties of Waves

Amplitude – Maximum displacement from equilibrium. The larger the amplitude,

the more energy the wave carries.

Wavelength – The distance between successive identical parts of a wave.

Represented by lambda, .

Crest – The high point of a wave.

Trough – The low point of a wave.

Period – The time needed for a wave to make one complete cycle (wavelength) of
motion. Represented by T. Units of seconds.

Frequency – Number of cycles (wavelengths) per unit time. Represented by f.

Units of hertz (Hz).

Period and Frequency

• Period is the time needed for a wave to make one complete cycle
(wavelength) of motion. Represented by T. Units of seconds.

• Frequency is the number of cycles (wavelengths) per unit time.

Represented by f. Units of hertz (Hz).

• Period and frequency are inverses.

– Example: Calculate the frequency of a pendulum

that has a period of 1/4 second.

– f = 1 / T = 1 / (0.25 s) = 4 Hz
CHECK!!

Given the equation for the speed of waves:

v=λf

Does this mean, for example, that high frequency sounds (high pitches), travel
faster than low frequency sounds?

NO!!! Wavelength and frequency vary inversely to produce the same speed of all
sounds. So when one goes up, the other goes down.

Amplitude Indicates Energy

- A tsunami is basically an ocean wave with a large amplitude. It carries

considerable destructive energy.

Earthquakes

• Vibrations provide the energy for waves. The bigger the vibrations, the
bigger the waves they create.

• The vibrations from earthquakes can cause waves in the ocean and in the
ground.

Tsunamis are giant ocean waves caused by undersea earthquakes.

Earthquakes cause waves in the ground called seismic waves. Different types of
seismic waves travel at different speeds:

• P-waves are longitudinal waves; they travel the fastest.

• S-waves are transverse waves.

Earthquake Waves

• Earthquakes release energy that travels through and around the Earth in
seismic waves.

• The two main types of seismic waves are body waves and surface waves.

– Body waves can travel through Earth’s inner layers.

– Surface waves move only along the surface.

• The two types of body waves are primary (P) waves and secondary (S)
waves.

– P waves vibrate parallel to the direction they are traveling in a

push-pull motion. P waves travel at a velocity of 4 to 6 km/s.

– S waves vibrate perpendicular to their direction of travel. S waves

travel at a velocity of 3 to 4 km/s.

• The two types of surface waves are the Love wave and the Rayleigh wave.

– Love waves move the surface of the ground from side to side.

– Rayleigh waves roll along the surface in a circular motion, like an

ocean wave. Most of the shaking felt from an earthquake is
caused by Rayleigh waves.

– The Love wave is slightly faster than the Rayleigh wave, but both
move at about 4 km/s.

Wave Interactions
• Reflection

– Law of Reflection

– Total Internal Reflection

• Absorption

• Refraction

• Diffraction

• Interference

– Constructive

– Destructive

– Standing Waves
 • Polarization

• Resonance

ABSORPTION

- Wave is absorbed by a material and may disappear

Anechoic Chamber

- An anechoic chamber ("an-echoic" meaning non-reflective, non-echoing or

echo-free) is a room designed to completely absorb reflections of either
sound or electromagnetic waves. They are also insulated from exterior
sources of noise.

Reflection

- Waves bounces of a material and goes to a new direction

- The law of reflection states that the angle of incidence is equal to the
angle of reflection.

Refraction

- Waves passes through a material and bends.

Diffraction

- Waves bends around or goes through a hole in a material

- When plane waves go through a small hole, they become circular waves

Wave Interactions – Interference

• When two or more waves are at the same place at the same time, the
resulting effect is called interference.
• Waves overlap to form an interference pattern.
• The waves combine to form a single wave.

• Constructive interference - when the crest of one wave overlaps the crest
of another, their individual effects add together. The result is a wave of
increased amplitude.

• Destructive interference – when the crest of one wave overlaps the trough
of another, their individual effects are reduced. The result is a wave of
decreased amplitude.
Polarization

- Polarization is the alignment of transverse waves.

- Polarizing light filters affect light waves the way the fence affects the waves
in the rope.

Standing Waves

• Although waves usually travel, it is possible to make a wave stay in one

place. A wave that is trapped in one spot is called a standing wave.

• Standing waves are the result of interference. The resultant wave is

created by the interference of two waves traveling at the same frequency,
amplitude and wavelength but in opposite directions.

• In a standing wave, the nodes remain stationary. This is where you can
touch a standing wave on a rope without disturbing the wave.

• The positions on a standing wave with the largest

amplitudes are known as antinodes. Antinodes occur
halfway between nodes.

• Standing waves can be set up on the strings of musical

instruments, in organ pipes, and by blowing across the
top of a soda bottle.
Sound Waves

 Sound waves are caused by vibrations of material objects.

 Sound waves are longitudinal waves.

 Sound waves require a medium. Sound cannot travel through a vacuum.

 Any matter will transmit sound.

 Sound travels fastest through solids, less fast through liquids and slowest
through gasses.

 The subjective impression about the frequency of sound is pitch.

 high pitched – high frequency

 low pitched – low frequency

Frequency Ranges

• The frequency range for normal human hearing is between 20 Hz and

20,000 Hz. As a person ages, the range will shrink, especially at the high
frequency end.
• Infrasonic (subsonic) sounds have frequencies below 20 Hz.
• Ultrasonic sounds have frequencies above 20,000 Hz.

Sound in Air

 Compression waves travel through air or along

springs.

 These waves travel with areas of compressions and

rarefactions.

 Sound is a mechanical wave – remember that it is

not the medium that travels from one place to
another, but the pulse that travels.
Speed of Sound

• The speed of sound in a material depends not on the material’s density,

but on its elasticity.

• Elasticity is the ability of a material to change shape in response to an

applied force, and then resume its initial shape once the distorting force is
removed.

• Steel is elastic, putty is inelastic.

• In elastic materials, the atoms

are relatively close together and
respond quickly to each other’s
motions, transmitting energy
with little loss.

• Sound travels about fifteen times

faster in steel than in air, and
about four times faster in water
than in air.

• The speed of sound in dry air at 0C is about 330 meters per second.

• For each degree above 0C the speed of sound increases by 0.60 meters
per second.

• The speed of sound in air at normal room temperature (~20C) is about

340 meters per second. Use this number in calculations if no other
information is provided.

Check: How far away is a storm if you note a 3 second delay between a
lightning flash and the sound of the thunder? 340 m/sec x 3 sec = 1020 meters
Loudness

• The intensity of a sound is proportional to the square of the amplitude of a

sound wave. . (i = ka2)

• Sound intensity is objective and is measured by instruments such as an

oscilloscope.

• Loudness is a physiological sensation sensed by the brain. It is subjective

but related to sound intensity.

• The unit of intensity for sound in the decibel (dB).

• Loudness varies nearly as the logarithm of intensity (powers of 10).

Common Levels of Sound

SOURCE OF SOUND LEVEL (dB)

Jet Engine, at 30 m 140

Threshold of pain 120

Loud rock music 115

Old subway train 100

Average factory 90

Busy street traffic 70

Normal speech 60

Library 40

Close Whisper 20

Normal breathing 10

Hearing threshold 0
Sound Waves and Forced Vibrations

 Resonance is a natural amplification of sound.

 All objects have their own natural frequencies at which they are
likely to vibrate.

 Vibrations can also be forced. When the frequency of a forced vibration

matches the natural frequencies of an object, resonance occurs.

 Sounding boards are used to augment (increase) the volume

(amplitude) of a vibrating object (like a string or tuning fork).

 Sounding boards can be forced into vibrations.

 Sounding boards are important in all stringed musical instruments.

Natural Frequency

• Everything vibrates, from planets and stars to atoms and almost everything
in between.

• A natural frequency is one at which minimum energy is required to

produce forced vibrations.

• It is also the frequency that requires the least amount of energy to

continue this vibration.

• Natural frequencies depend on factors such as the elasticity and shape of

the object.

Resonance

 Every object vibrates at a characteristic frequency – this is its resonant, or

natural, frequency.

 Resonance is a condition that exists when the frequency of a force applied

to a system matches the natural frequency of the system.

 Examples of resonance are:

 Pushing a swing

 Tuning a radio station

  Voice-shattered glass.

 Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse in 1940 .—High winds set up

standing waves in the bridge, causing the bridge to oscillate at one
of its natural frequencies.

 When the frequency of a forced vibration on an object matches the

object’s natural frequency, a dramatic increase in amplitude occurs. This is
called resonance.

 For example, a swing, or the hollow box parts of musical instruments are
designed to work best with resonance.

 In order to resonate, an object must be elastic enough to return to its

original position and have enough force applied to keep it moving
(vibrating).

Sound and Resonance

 Sound travels fastest through solids, less fast through liquids and slowest
through gasses.

 Resonance is a natural amplification of sounds or vibrations.

 All objects have their own natural frequencies at which they are
likely to vibrate.

 Vibrations can also be forced. When the frequency of a forced

vibration matches the natural frequencies of an object, resonance
occurs.

 You can’t easily hear an electric guitar unless it is plugged in, but
you can easily hear a classical guitar because the body of the
electric guitar will not resonate while the hollow body of a classical
guitar will resonate.

 Resonance can be positive, such as hearing a guitar or other wood

instrument, or it can be destructive. View these videos to see the
destructive force of resonance:
Interference

• Sound waves interfere with each other in the same way as all waves.

• Constructive interference - augmentation

• Destructive interference - cancellation

The Doppler Effect

• The Doppler effect is the change in observed frequency due to the motion
of the source or observer.

• The Doppler effect is the frequency shift that is the result of relative
motion between the source of waves and an observer.

Higher frequency: Object approaching

Lower frequency: Object receding

• Example: As the sound of a car's horn passes and recedes from you, the
pitch of the horn seems to decrease.

• Some application:

Echolocation (e.g., Submarines, Dolphins, Bats, etc.)

Police Radar
 Weather Tracking

Ultrasound

• Ultrasound is cyclic high frequency sound wave beyond the upper limit of
human hearing.

• Ultrasound waves can be bounced off of tissues using special devices. The
echoes are then converted into a picture called a sonogram.

• Ultrasound imaging (ultrasonography) allows physicians and patients to get

an inside view of soft tissues, organs, body cavities, etc., with real time
images and without using invasive techniques.

• The most well known application of ultrasound is to examine a fetus during

pregnancy.

• Ultrasound has been used to image the human body for at least 50 years. It
is one of the most widely used diagnostic tools in modern medicine.

• As currently applied in the medical environment, ultrasound poses no

known risks to the patient and there is no convincing evidence for any
danger from ultrasound during pregnancy.