PhysicsLAB Worksheet
Fundamental Wave Terms

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Provide the correct term for each blank. No term is used more than once. Be careful that you spell each term correctly. Fill in every blank before submitting your answers since this assignment will be graded based on the information in your first and ONLY submission, it is not "View Correct Answers." 
 
1. ____ waves require a material medium for energy transfer. 

2. A(n) ____ wave causes the particles of the medium to vibrate in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is traveling. 

3. ____ waves are non-mechanical and travel through a vacuum at a speed of 3 x 108 m/sec. 

4. Which grouping is correctly listed in terms of increasing wavelength?


 
5. A(n) ____ is a single disturbance traveling through a medium. 

6. The ____ of a wave is the number of waves that pass a given point per second. 

7. The ____ of a wave is the reciprocal of its frequency. 

8. The ____ of a wave is the linear distance between any two corresponding points on consecutive waves on a waveform graph. 

9. The energy content of a mechanical wave is characterized by its ____ . 

10. A water, or surface wave, is an example of a(n) ____ wave which results from the superposition of longitudinal and transverse vibrations. 

11. The ____ of a mechanical wave depends on the medium. 

12. We say that a mechanical wave has been ____ if it has lost some of its energy to heating up the medium through which it is traveling. 

13. Bridges and buildings often exhibit ____ wave behavior when they are impinged upon by periodic gusting winds. 

14. A(n) ____ wave causes the particles of the medium to vibrate in a direction parallel to the direction in which the wave is traveling. 

15. A(n) ____ is the transfer of energy from one point to another. 

16. A region in a longitudinal wave where the particles are closer together than normal is called a(n) ___. 

17. A region in a longitudinal wave were the particles are farther apart than normal is called a(n) ___. 

18. Something ____ is the source of all waves. 

19. The speed of a wave can be calculated with which of the following formulas?
 
20. ___ points can be exactly one wavelength apart.
 



 
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