| Term | Definition |
|---|
| wave | a distrubance that transmits energy through matter of space |
| medium | the matter through which a wave travels |
| mechanical wave | a wavethat requires a medium through which to travel |
| electromagnetic wave | a wve caused by a disturbance in electric and magnetic fields and that does not require a medium; also called a ligh wave |
| transverse wave | a wave that causes the particles of the medium to vibrate perpendicularly to the direction the wave travels |
| longitudinal wave | a wave that causes the particles of the medium to vibrate parallel to the direction that wave travels |
| crest | the highest point of a transverse wave |
| trough | the lowest point of a transverse wave |
| amplitude | the greatest distance that particles in a medium move from their normal position when a wave passes |
| doppler effect | an observed change in the frequency of a wave when the source or observer is moving |
| reflection | the bouncing back of a wave as it meets a surface or boundary |
| diffraction | when wavey been whey pass the edge or openning |
| refraction | the bending of wavess as they pass from one medium to another |
| interference | combination of two or move waves that exist in the same place at the same time |
| standing wave | a wave from caused by interfeence that appears not to move along the medium and that shows some regions of no vibration and orther regions of maximum vibration |
| constructive interfernce | any interference in which waves combin so that the resulting wave is bigher than the orginal wave |
| destructive inteference | interference in which waves combine so that the resulting wave is smaller than the largest of the orginal waves |
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