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What is a wave?
A wave is an oscillation that moves through space,
transferring energy from one place to another.
Which of these is not an example of a wave?

All true waves move or propagate through space, therefore

the ripples on a sand dune are not waves.

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Representing waves
There are two main ways of representing a wave on a graph.
 graphing an oscillation in time:
y crest
amplitude

t
period
trough
This graph represents how y changes with time. It could be
an oscillation of voltage, displacement, pressure, or any
other suitable variable, depending on the context.

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Representing waves
There are two main ways of representing a wave on a graph.
 graphing an oscillation in space:
amplitude
y

x
wavelength

This graph represents how y changes along an axis x in

space. It could be a wave of displacement or pressure, or
any other suitable variable, depending on the context.

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Waves in time and space
These two waveforms look the same, but they each give
different information about the wave they represent.
amplitude
y (A) t
period (T)

amplitude
y (A) x

wavelength (λ)
Always label your axes!
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Terms in wave

Wavelength (λ) : the distance from one crest /trough

of the wave to the next

Amplitude (A) : the maximum distance that the

surface of the water is displaced from its undisturbed
level (the height of the crest)

Period (T) : time taken for one complete wave to pass

a point

Frequency (f) : number of waves sent out each

second
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Relation between frequency and period

•  

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Frequency of waves – activity

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Studying waveforms in the classroom
An oscilloscope is an
instrument that detects a
varying voltage from an
input, such as a
microphone, and plots its
waveform against time.

A signal generator
produces an alternating
voltage at a chosen
frequency and amplitude.
It can also produce a range
of different waveforms.

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Using an oscilloscope

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Wave speed
A series of surface waves is moving across a pond. The peaks
of the waves are 20 cm apart.
A duck is disturbed by the waves
and bobs up and down twice a
second as the waves move past it.
At what speed are the waves
travelling across the water surface?
wave speed = number of waves passing per second
× wavelength
wave speed = frequency × wavelength
The waves are passing the duck at a rate of 20 × 2 = 40 cm/s
This formula can always be used to find wave speed.

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Understanding waves and waveforms

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What are transverse and longitudinal wave?
A wave is a periodic disturbance in a material (medium) or
space.

Each particle of the medium vibrates, or oscillates, around a

fixed position. Energy is transferred outwards from the source
of the wave.

Waves that move outwards from their source are called

progressive (traveling) waves. The two types of
progressive wave are transverse and longitudinal.

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Transverse waves
In transverse waves, each particle oscillates perpendicular to
the direction of propagation of the wave. There is no
horizontal movement.

Transverse waves can be modeled by moving one end of a

Slinky up and down. Each coil represents a particle.

source moves coils vibrate

up and down up and down

direction of wave
propagation
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Simulation of a transverse wave

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Longitudinal waves
In longitudinal waves, each particle oscillates parallel to the
direction of propagation of the wave. There is no vertical
movement.

Longitudinal waves can be modeled by moving one end of a

Slinky back and forth. Each coil represents a particle.

source moves coils vibrate

left and right left and right

direction of wave

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Simulation of a longitudinal wave

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Sections of longitudinal waves
Within longitudinal waves, regions in which the particles are
relatively close together are called compressions, and regions
where they are relatively far apart are called rarefactions.

wavelength

compression

rarefaction

wavelength

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Transverse or longitudinal waves?

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Waves in a medium
Most types of waves are disturbances that propagate
through a medium.
Sound waves travel through the air as variations in pressure
and density. Can sound travel through any other medium?
Transverse waves can travel across a water surface. These
are known as surface waves. Longitudinal pressure waves
can also travel through a body of water.
During an earthquake, transverse
and longitudinal waves travel through
solid rock away from the epicentre.
What is the difference between a
sound wave and a pressure wave?

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Pitch and loudness
The shorter the wavelength of a sound, or the higher the
frequency, the higher the pitch to the human ear. The
loudness of a sound depends on the amplitude of the wave.
Which of these traces shows the louder sound and which
shows the sound with the higher pitch?

higher pitch

louder

Not every note of the same pitch sounds

the same. The waveform of a wave
determines the quality of the sound.

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What is ultrasound?
The range of human hearing is 20–20,000 Hz. Any sound
above 20 kHz is called ultrasound.

Whales and dolphins communicate using ultrasound.

Many of them also use it for echolocation.

Echolocation works by timing

how long a wave takes to reflect
from a surface and return to its
source. That information is then
used to calculate the distance it
has travelled.

Animals are thought to do this naturally, but it can also be

done by a computer, such as in prenatal scanning.

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Sonar
One practical application of ultrasound is sonar.
Originally an acronym for ‘SOund
Navigation And Ranging’, sonar uses
the same principle as echolocation in
animals. A signal is sent out, and the
time taken for it to return to its source
after reflecting from a surface, such
as a lake bed, is measured.

Knowing the speed of sound in

water, it is then possible to
calculate the distance the sound
has travelled using this equation:
distance = speed × time
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Depth evaluation using ultrasound
A ship has recorded the following trace while using sonar to
map the bottom of a lake. The traces are 0.01 s apart, and
sound travels at 1500 m/s in water. How deep is the lake?
transmitted reflected
distance = speed × time
signal signal
= 1500 × 0.01
= 15 m
However, this is not the depth of
the lake! This is the distance the
sound has travelled, down to the
lakebed and back up again.

depth of the lake = 15  2

= 7.5 m

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Sound imaging calculations

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How does ultrasound imaging work?
We have seen how to calculate a simple distance to a
boundary using sonar. How can ultrasound be used to
create more complex images, such as of an unborn child?
Waves are not only reflected from solid surfaces: they are
reflected from any boundary between different media. When
transmitted into the body, ultrasound is reflected to varying
degrees by all the different tissue boundaries present.
The reflected waves are
detected by a receiver.
A computer turns the
distance and intensities of
these echoes into a
2-dimensional image.

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Further uses for ultrasound
Ultrasound has many uses in industry as well as medicine.
Jewellers and watch repairers use
ultrasound to clean delicate items.
The dirt is shaken off by the air vibrations,
leaving the mechanism unharmed.

The reflection of sound waves from

any boundary also makes ultrasound
useful for finding flaws in mechanical
structures or the raw materials used
to build those structures.

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Wave media

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Sound waves

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What is diffraction?

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Describing diffraction
When waves pass through a gap they diffract. This means
they spread out on the far side of the gap, changing shape
as they pass through it.
 Maximum diffraction occurs when the gap size is equal to
the wavelength of the waves.
 If the gap is much smaller than the wavelength, the waves
cannot pass through the gap at all.
 If the gap is much larger than the wavelength, only the
edges of the waves diffract.

When waves pass an obstacle

on only one side, only those
edges are diffracted.

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Using diffraction
Diffraction is useful for long distance communications.

Long wave radio waves are diffracted by hills and mountains

because the wavelength is of a similar size to the obstacle.
This allows them to travel around these obstacles, providing
coverage over a large area.

Higher frequency waves are diffracted much less. Television

signals, for example, have a much shorter range.

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Understanding diffraction

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What is interference?

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Interference of sound
What caused the pattern of loud and quiet spots?
Both speakers produce identical sounds. When the sound from
one speaker meets the sound from the other, the two waves
interact with each other. This is known as interference.
If the waves are in phase, If the waves are out of phase,
they reinforce each other. they cancel each other out.

+ +

= =

This is constructive This is destructive

interference. interference.
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Using interference
The phenomenon of interference has many uses. Some car
manufacturers put microphones into the engine bay, delay
the sound by half a wave, and play it back to the
passengers. The effect of this is that the noise of the engine
is cancelled out, and the journey is much quieter.

The same idea is

used on helicopters,
to remove the
incredibly loud rotor
noise and allow the
pilot to communicate
more effectively.

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Interference patterns in light

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Understanding interference

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Polarization
Electromagnetic waves (such as light) ‘oscillate’ in three
dimensions, shown by the green and the blue waves below:

unpolarized wave polarized wave polarizing filter

When these waves pass through a polarizing filter, only one

plane is able to get through (the blue one in this case). The
other parts of the wave are blocked. This is polarization. If
another slit at 90 degrees is placed in the waves path, then
none of the wave can get through.

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Polarization of light
In 1938, Edwin Land developed the polaroid lens. Today they
are used in most sunglasses, as well as microscopes and LCD
screens, but they were originally used to help with fishing!

On a sunny day, light reflecting

from a water surface can cause
glare. However, only light in one
plane is reflected from the flat
surface of the water.

Polaroid sunglasses are

designed to block out this light,
making it much easier to see
the fish clearly.

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AM radio

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Sending signals into space
Some radio waves follow the contours of the Earth. These
are called ground waves. These are typically waves with a
frequency of 3–3,000 kHz because their long wavelength
means they diffract around the curves of the Earth’s surface.

Radio waves that refract

through the ionosphere and
return to Earth, giving the
impression of reflection, are
called sky waves. Their
frequencies are 3–30 MHz.
At frequencies over 30 MHz, radio waves can pass
completely through the ionosphere and into space.
These are called space waves.

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Communicating with satellites
Space waves are used to communicate with satellites.
These waves are known as microwaves because of their
short wavelength compared to other radio waves.

Microwaves only diffract by a

small amount due to this short
wavelength, so they can be sent
to a satellite in a thin beam to
save energy. The satellite can
then send a second beam back
to earth in response.

Radio waves with a frequency of greater than 30 GHz are

easily absorbed and scattered by dust and water in the
atmosphere, so they have little practical use.

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Identifying wave behaviour
What is happening to the radio signals in this picture?

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Characteristics of radio waves

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Glossary

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Anagrams

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Multiple-choice quiz

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