Mechanical and Electromagnetic waves

1. Mechanical and Electromagnetic waves By Brittany Conner

2. What are mechanical & Electromagnetic waves? Mechanical waves: • A disturbance in matter that carriers energy from one place to another. Electromagnetic waves: • Transverse waves consisting of changing electric fields and changing magnetic fields.

3. How are they produced? Mechanical waves: • They are created when a source of energy causes a vibration to travel through a medium. • A vibration is a repeating back-and-forth motion. Electromagnetic waves: • They are produced by constantly changing fields, electric and magnetic. • They are produced when an electric charge vibrates or accelerates.

4. How do they travel? Mechanical waves: • They require matter to travel through. • The material through which a wave travels is a medium • Travel through vibrations • Standing wave- stay in one place because it doesn’t move through the medium Electromagnetic waves: • Magnetic fields and electric fields regenerate each other. As they regenerate, their energy travels in the form of a wave. • They can travel through a vacuum, empty space and matter. • Electromagnetic radiation id the transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves traveling through matter or across space.

5. Are there different types? Mechanical waves: 3 different types • Transverse- a wave that causes the medium to vibrate at right angles to the direction in which the wave travels. • Longitudinal- a wave in which the vibration of the medium is parallel to the direction the wave travels. • Surface- a wave that travels along a surface separating two media. Electromagnetic waves: • They have different transverse waves depending on the frequency of the wave.

6. What are some properties? Mechanical waves: • A waves frequency equals the frequency of the vibrating source producing the wave • Increasing the frequency of a wave decreases its wavelength. • Waves traveling at a constant speed, then the wavelength is inversely proportional to frequency. • The more energy a wave has, the greater its amplitude Electromagnetic waves: • Electromagnetic waves vary in wave length and frequency. • As the wavelength increases, the frequency decreases.

7. Behavior of mechanical waves • reflection does not change the speed or frequency of a wave, but the wave can be flipped upside down. • Refraction- when a wave enters a medium at an angle, refraction occurs because one side of the wave moves more slowly than the other side. • Diffraction- a wave diffracts more if its wavelength is large compared to the size of an opening or obstacle. • Interference- when two or more waves overlap and combine together, constructive and destructive. • Standing waves- appears to stay in one place

8. Behavior of electromagnetic waves • When light strikes a new medium, the light can be reflected (regular and diffuse), absorbed, or transmitted. When light is transmitted, it can be refracted, polarized or scattered. • The waves of the electromagnetic spectrum include radios waves, infrared rays, visible light, ultraviolet rays, X-rays, and gamma rays.