SOLVED:What Is Common To All Waves? - Numerade

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What is common to all waves? What is common to all waves? Holt Physics Raymond A. Serway,… 1st Edition Chapter 12, Problem 23 View All Chapters

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Waves are disturbances that transfer energy from one point to another without the permanent displacement of the medium through which they travel. Show more…

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Key Concepts

Energy Transfer Waves are a means of transferring energy from one point to another without the permanent displacement of the medium through which they travel. This energy transfer is a universal feature of all wave phenomena, whether mechanical, electromagnetic, or quantum in nature. Propagation of Disturbance A defining characteristic of waves is their ability to propagate a disturbance through space and time. This propagation, which can occur through various media or even in vacuum (as in light waves), conveys energy and information, forming the core concept common to all waves. Oscillatory Behavior All waves involve oscillations, meaning they consist of regularly repeating disturbances. This oscillation can occur in the displacement of a medium (or a field, in the case of electromagnetic waves) and is the fundamental mechanism underlying their wave-like nature.

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Transcript

00:01 So we're in part of the chapter that talks about waves, and we're going to talk about what's the common part of waves that all waves share. 00:13 Waves, as part of their definition, is that waves are a disturbance, and it's a disturbance that carries energy. 00:39 And there are many types of waves that we talk about in the chapter, and i'm just going to list them here. 00:47 For one, we have a pulse wave. 00:56 We also have periodic waves. 01:06 We have mechanical waves. 01:15 And we have waves that are not involved, waves in vacuum, pretty much. 01:22 So i'll just say in vacuum. 01:28 And then we also have longitudinal and transverse waves. 01:47 In each of these, there's a commonality. 01:51 And actually the first common thing about these are that they all carry energy, since that's part of the definition of waves. 01:59 But what we're going to talk about specifically is periodic waves and what all periodic waves share. 02:08 Pretty much, the difference between a pulse wave and a periodic wave is that a pulse wave is a single disturbance. 02:21 So what is a disturbance? the disturbance is actually the displacement from equilibrium. 02:28 That's what we call disturbance. 02:30 So if our x -axis is our equilibrium point, our point of rest where basically an object lives with no net force on it, the displacement from there, which goes in sort of the y direction in this case, is this. 02:52 It's as if the object moves from its equilibrium point, it goes far away, and then it returns to it on the other end. 03:00 This is an example of a pulse wave because there's only a single disturbance. 03:04 And it's told us this whole shape is the disturbance. 03:07 In a periodic case, that disturbance keeps on going until you stop it. 03:15 And this is usually how it looks like. 03:24 This is the most common example of periodic waves. 03:29 Which is a sign wave or a sign graph. 03:35 And so yeah, so now you see the difference. 03:41 Only in the case of periodic waves, there is a frequency. 03:46 So frequency exists in periodic waves, and the frequency which you may have learned in previous videos on simple harmonic motion is the number of cycles that it takes per unit second. 04:04 So if it takes a second to travel one full cycle, so one full cycle is where you start, you go through equilibrium, and then you go back to your starting point. 04:21 That would be 1 hertz. 04:25 That's the number of times that it takes for you to get through one second. 04:28 If it takes 2, 2 hertz, that's 2 cycles per second. 04:32 So in one second you might travel this distance. 04:34 And that's dealing with time here. 04:41 And frequency is a given for periodic waves. 04:45 So it's common in all of these waves. 04:48 When we talk about mechanical waves, mechanical waves are, or mechanical and in vacuum waves. 04:53 These are waves such as sound waves, water waves, anything that travels through matter. 05:08 We call this our medium... Need help? Use Ace Ace is your personal tutor. It breaks down any question with clear steps so you can learn. Start Using Ace Ace is your personal tutor for learning Step-by-step explanations Instant summaries Summarize YouTube videos Understand textbook images or PDFs Study tools like quizzes and flashcards Listen to your notes as a podcast

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