Waves Vocabulary

A disturbance that carries energy from one place to another.

• Wave

• Wavelength

• Rarefaction

• Motion

The distance from the middle (rest position) to the trough or crest of a wave

• Frequency

• Wavelength

• Rarefaction

• Amplitude

Number of wavelengths that go past a point in one second; unit of measurement is hertz (Hz).

• Electromagnetic Waves

• Mechanical Waves

• Frequency

• Amplitude

The distance between two adjacent crests or two adjacent troughs. In compressional waves (longitudinal), the distance between two compressions or rarefactions.

• Amplitude

• Frequency

• Wavelength

• Medium

Material through which a wave can travel.

• Motion

• Medium

• Waves

• Water

The highest point of a wave.

• Peak

• Trough

• Amplitude

• Crest

The lowest point of a wave.

• Valley

• Crest

• Amplitude

• Trough

Waves in which the medium moves back and forth (left and right) in the same direction as the wave.

• Transverse Waves

• Longitudinal Waves

• Electromagnetic Waves

• Frequency

Where the particles of a Longitudinal Wave are close together.

• Refraction

• Rarefaction

• Compression

• Reflection

The type of wave that requires a medium (solid, liquid, or gas) to travel through

• Color wave

• mechanical wave

• reflected wave

• EM wave