Waves are the key to sound and colour.

Mobile phone signals, microwave ovens all use energy carried by waves.
Earthquakes and tsunamis are destructive waves of energy.
Waves affect our everyday lives in many ways.

What is a wave?
A wave is a pulse of energy. Waves carry energy away from a central transmitter.
Mechanical waves, such as sound waves, need some medium of transmission.
Electromagnetic waves, for example radio waves, can carry energy through a vacuum.
If a wave is travelling through a medium, the particles of the medium do not move
along with it. They vibrate about their equilibrium position, and the energy is
transmitted through the interaction of neighbouring particles.