1. What is a wave?
January 28, 2015
How many types
of wave have you
heard of in
everyday use?
Do they have
anything in
common?

2. Aims
• Describe the origin of a wave
• Explain the properties of a wave

3. Key terms
• Displacement:
• Oscillation:

4. What is a wave?

5. What causes a wave?
• The source of a wave
is always something
that vibrates
• The material that the
wave travels through
is called the medium

7. Amplitude, A
• The maximum distance that each point in the
medium moves from its normal position as
the wave passes

8. • This is the number of waves that pass any
point in the medium every second, so it is the
same as the number of vibrations per second

9. • This is the speed at which each wave crest
moves through the medium.
• Measured in metres per second, m/s or ms-1

10. Wavelength, λ
• This is the length of a complete wave
measured from any point to the next identical
point – the distance is always the same no
matter which point you choose

11. λfv =
Where:
v = speed of wave / m/s
f = frequency of wave / Hz (1/s)
λ = wavelength of wave / m

12. How can we prove this?
What would happen if we increased the wavelength of a wave?
What would happen if we decreased the wavelength of a
wave?