WAVES: ENERGY IN Challenge
2011
MOTION
1
WAVES INTERACTIVE WEBSITE
Explanation of Waves
Sound Waves
Ocean Waves
Circular Waves
Electromagnetic Spectrum
2
D O Y O U K N O W ABO U T
WHAT
WAVES?
3
WAVES-LAUNCH LAB
How Do Waves Transfer Energy?
Light enters your eyes and sounds strikes your ears, enabling you
to sense the world around you.
Light and sound are waves that carry energy from one place to
another.
Do waves carry anything else along with their energy?
Does a wave transfer matter too? In this activity you’ll observe one
way that waves can transfer energy.
4
LAUNCH LAB PROCEDURE
Place your textbook flat on your desk. Line up four marbles on
the groove at the edge of the textbook so that the marbles are
touching each other.
Hold the first three marbles in place using three fingers of one
hand.
Use your other hand to tap the first marble with a pen or a pencil.
Observe the behavior of the fourth marble.
Answer the following in NB: Write a paragraph explaining how
the fourth marble reacted to the pen tap. Draw a diagram
showing how energy was transferred through the marbles.
5
LAUNCH LAB
SO…WHAT DO YOU THINK??
CAN WAVES CARRY MATTER?
6
WHAT IS A WAVE?
A wave is a repeating disturbance or movement that transfers
energy through matter or space.
Ex: Ocean waves disturb the water and transfer energy through it.
Ex: During earthquakes, energy is transferred in powerful waves
(seismic waves) that travel through the earth
Ex: Light is a type of wave that can travel through empty space to
transfer energy from one place to another. Like the sun to the Earth!
7
WAVES AND ENERGY
If you drop a pebble into a pool of water, ripples form.
Ripples are energy traveling in the form of a wave on the
surface of the water.
Pebble transfers its energy to the molecules in the water,
causing them to move.
Those molecules then transfer the energy to their neighboring
molecules! (Think back to the marbles!)
8
WAVES AND ENERGY
Waves and Matter
Think of a boat on the ocean…
As waves approach the boat it
moves up and down and maybe
even a short distance side to
side because WAVES TRANSFER
ENERGY TO BOAT
Waves aren’t carrying water
All waves carry energy without transporting matter!
9
WAVES AND ENERGY
Making Waves
A wave will travel only as long as it has
energy to carry
All waves are produced by something that
vibrates
10
MECHANICAL WAVES
Mechanical waves are waves that
can only travel through matter
The matter that a wave travels through
is called a medium
A medium can solid, liquid, gas or
combination of any of those
TWO TYPES OF MECHANICAL WAVES:
Transverse waves and compressional
waves
11
MECHANICAL WAVES
Transverse Waves
Matter in the medium moves back and forth at right angles to the
direction that the wave travels
Transverse means “acting, lying
or being across; set crosswise”
Slinky Demo
The wave and its energy travel from the hand to the other end as the
slinky moves up and down
12
MECHANICAL WAVES
Compressional Waves (aka
Longitudinal Waves)
Matter in the medium moves back and
forth along the same direction that the
wave travels
Slinky Demo
As the wave moves, it looks as if the
whole spring is moving toward one end
Comparing types of waves
Sound Waves
Air molecules (or molecules of another
medium) are pushed together as a
result of vibrations
13
MECHANICAL WAVES
Seismic Waves
Forces in Earth’s crust cause regions to shift, bend, or
break
Causes vibrations which create seismic waves
Carry energy outward
14
WAVE PROPERTIES
New vocab!
Crests-high points
Troughs-low points
Rarefaction-less-dense region of compressional
wave
Wavelength (λ)-distance between one point on a
wave and the nearest point just like it (Measuring
wavelength)
Frequency (f)-number of wavelengths that pass a
fixed point each second
Period (T)-amount of time it takes one wavelength
to pass a point
Amplitude- measures energy carried by wave
15
WAVE PROPERTIES
Wavelength Is Related to Frequency
Using the ropes at your desk, how can you increase the frequency of
a wave?
Move the rope up and down faster
Frequency (f) = rate of vibration of source
What does this do to the wavelength?
Makes it shorter!
16
WAVE PROPERTIES
Wave Speed (v)
Jot down a situation where you have observed two types of waves at
different speeds
Depends on medium and sometimes even temperature!
17
WAVE PROPERTIES
Calculating Wave Speed (v)
What is the speed of a sound wave that has a wavelength of
2.00 m and a frequency of 170.5 Hz?
341 m/s
The lowest-pitched sounds humans can hear have a frequency
of 20.0 Hz. What is the wavelength of these sound waves if
their wave speed is 340.0 m/s?
17 m
18
WAVE PROPERTIES
Amplitude and Energy
The amount of energy carried by a wave is directly related to
amplitude!
Amplitude and Compressional Waves
Related to how tightly the medium is pushed together at
compressions
More dense=larger amplitude
Amplitude and Transverse Waves
Higher/taller=bigger amplitude
Distance from crest or trough of wave to rest position
19
