Transverse:

1. Equilibrium / Rest position: line drawn through the center

2. Crest: point with maximum amount of positive displacement from the rest position

3. Trough: point with maximum amount of negative displacement from the rest position

4. Wavelength: length of one complete wave cycle / distance between two successive crests or
troughs

5. Amplitude: maximum amount of displacement of a particle from its rest position (height of a crest
or the depth of a trough)
Longitudinal:

1. Compression: point on a medium which has the maximum density

2. Rarefraction: point on a medium which has the minimum density

3. Wavelength: Distance between two successive compressions or rarefractions

• Frequency: Number of complete waves generated per second (Hertz = Hz)

• Period: Time taken for a wave to make one complete vibrational cycle (m/s)

f=1/t -> v = f x L

t=1/f -> v = L / t

• Period: Vibration that continually goes back and forth with fixed distance and time
Water Waves
• Reflection: Change in direction when bouncing off a barrier

Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection

• Refraction: change in the direction of waves as they pass from one medium to another

Travels fast in deep mediums -> longer wavelengths

• Diffraction: bending of wave around the object or spreading after passing through a gap

Maximum diffraction occurs when the size of the gap is similar to the wavelength.
If wider, produces less diffraction

Uses: Holography
Interference
Interference: Phenomenon that occurs when two waves meet while traveling along the same medium
1. Constructive Interference: Reinforcement to produce greater amplitude when two intefering waves
have a displacement in the same direction (up or down) and are in step/phase (same wavelength,
speed)

2. Destructive Interference: Subtraction of two waves when they have displacements in opposite
directions (cancelling out)

• Applications: Signal and image processing / wave and light simplification

Sound
Sound = Form of energy in vibration

• Vibrates nearby air particles - creates oscillation in which its energy is transferred to other place (air
itself is not travelling)
• Travel through mediums (longitudinal)

• Higher frequency - higher pitch

• Lower frequency - lower pitch

• Higher amplitude - louder

• Lower amplitude - softer
• Our recorded voices sounds different it only records the sound wave travelled through air (what we
hear is travelled through our bone, skin)
• The speed of sound is determined by the medium it is travelling through
• The kinetic energy of molecules is directly proportional to temperature. - speed of sound wave also
increases
• Molecules at denser mediums collide faster with each other because they are more compactly
organized
• Speed of sound in air = 343m/s
• Speed of sound in air < liquid, solid (4 x Air = Water) (17 x Air = Steel)
• Sound travels in identical speed even when frequencies are different
Infrasonic < 20 Hz
Ultrasonic/sound > 20,000 Hz (Dolphins, bats - echolocation)

• Loudness of a sound = bel (B) -> 1/10 x B = dB = decibel (Double the loudness = + 10dB)

Electromagnetic Waves
• Carries electrical and magnetic energy
 • Consisted of vibrating electric and magnetic fields

• Perpendicular vibration, propagation of energy

• Consisted of energy particles called Photons (oscillating electric and magnetic field)
Types:

• Radio Waves
• Microwaves -> Lower frequency, longer wavelength
• Infra red
• Light Spectrum -> Enables us to see
• Ultraviolet
• X-rays -> Higher frequency, shorter wavelength
• Gamma rays

Properties
Travel through a vacuum at a speed of 3 x 108 m/s
Transverse
Transfer energy
Applications of EM waves:
1. Radio Waves: Transmit data (TV) using radio, satellites, radar and computer networks
2. Micro Waves: Cooking, satellite communication (penetrate clouds, smoke, light rain)
3. Infrared: Remoted controls, thermal & night-vision cameras, optical telescopes
4. Visible Light: Projector screens, laser, camera lens, etc
5. Ultraviolet: Powerful telescopes (The Hubble), sun tan, detecting forged bank notes, kill microbes,
sterilise products, produce vitamin D
6. X-rays: Imaging bones, killing cancer cells, shrink tumors, airport securities, detecting artworks
7. Gamma Rays: Treating cancer, detecting brian & heart abnormalities, engineering (cracks in pipes
and aircraft parts), atomic bomb
Dangers of EM waves:
1. Radio Waves: Large dose = cancer and other disorders
2. Microwaves: "Cataracts", a clouding of the lens which hinders from seeing clearly, brain damage,
burns
3. Infrared: Overheating - skin burns
4. Visible Light: Damage in retina (eye)
5. Ultraviolet: Damage in retina, sunburn -> skin cancer
6. X-rays: Cell damage, cancer
7. Gamma Rays: Cell damage, cancer, mutations

• Light
Form of energy transmitted by EM waves, consisting of electric and magnetic fields

Dual Nature
 1. Wave-like - can be reflected and refracted
2. Particle-like - can remove electrons from substances (photoelectric effect)

Solar cell: converts solar (light) energy to electrical energy

Sources

• Luminous Bodies: sources that give off own lights due to active atoms after receiving energy

(Non-luminous - reflect light)

Types
• Light Ray: very narrow 'line' of light / the direction which light is travelling

• Beam: collection of light rays - parallel, diverging (spreading out) and coverging (opposite of
diverging)
Objects

• Transparent: transmit light completely

• Translucent: allows some light to pass through (absorbed)

• Opague: do not let light travel through (reflected)

Reflection

• Specular: regular reflection (parallel) on smooth, shiny surface

• Diffuse: irregular reflection (scattered) on rough, dull surface

Mirror: (Opague, but shiny and smooth)
• Number of images formed by different angles of mirror
-> n = 360/angle - 1

• Object distance = Image Distance

• Object form (shape) = Image form (shape)
• Left and Right inversed

• The image of a object in the mirror is perceived by 2 or more light rays (for both eyes)
• The virtual image in the mirror is located in the intersecting point of 2 reflected rays

Called Virtual because no actual light rays passing through & cannot be projected on screen unlike
converging lens (because it reflects)

Refraction of Light
• Refraction: Bending of light due to change of speed in different mediums

1. Refracts towards the normal line ( i > r ) when medium is denser

 2. Refracts away from the normal line when medium is less dense

3. i = r + d (deviation)

• Absolute Refractive Index: Ratio of light's speed in vacuum to speed in the material

n = c (3 x 108 m/s) / v

Refractive Index of:

1. Air = 1.003 = 1

2. Water = 1.33

3. Glass = 1.52

4. Diamond = 2.42

• Snell's Law:

n1 sin (i) = n2 sin (r)

• Total Internal Reflection: reflection of light within a medium without any refraction after hitting the
boundary between two differenty density mediums

Conditions:

1. The light is travelling from denser medium to less dense medium

2. Angle of incidence is greater than critical angle

• Critical Angle: angle of incidence which results a refracted angle of 90 degrees

n1 sin (c) = n2 sin (90)

-> sin (c) = n2 / n1

Applications:

1. Diamond: the shape of diamond allows lights rays entering from the top to internally reflect
and exit to give bright sparkles
 2. Fiber Optic: long and thin strands of glass which does not have light hitting the wall at less
than the critical angle because it is too thin (undergo total internal reflection until it exits the
fiber at the other end)

Fiber Optic: used to carry telephone and computer communications

Advantages:

1. Carry much more information in a much smaller cable

2. Clearer connection due to no interference from electromagnetic fields
3. No hazard of electrocution
4. Lighter than copper wires