Waves show up in many different forms. In the last lesson we saw how the graph of a wave (a sinusoid) can be used to visually represent the motion of a mass on a spring or a pendulum.
But there are also real, physical waves (mechanical waves). You can see physical waves travel through water, strings and other materials. There are other physical waves as well, like sound waves and light waves. In this lesson we'll get an overview of waves and look at transverse and longitudinal waves, wave speed, frequency and period.
We'll also cover standing waves. Unlike most physical waves that are allowed to travel through a string or through the air, standing waves are confined to only one section of a string or air in a tube. By confining the wave, it will reflect back and forth within that section, giving us some interesting behavior.
Lab 1 - Waves Intro (PhET)
Lab 2 - Waves on a String (PhET)
Solmaz Khodaeifaal, Kristin Mandsager
Lab - Waves
(Pages 113-124)
slinky (long spring toy), string, large hardcover book, water, tray for water (clear is better), colored food dye, graph paper, index card/cardstock, blocks or other objects to place in water
Openstax - High School Physics Lab Manual - Student Version
Lab - Mechanical Waves
(Pages 74-77)
slinky (long spring toy), video camera, meterstick, tank of water, notecard
Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual - Student Version
- Waves
- Wave interference
- Standing waves
Waves show up in many different forms. In the last lesson we saw how the graph of a wave (a sinusoid) can be used to visually represent the motion of a mass on a spring or a pendulum.
But there are also real, physical waves (mechanical waves). You can see physical waves travel through water, strings and other materials. There are other physical waves as well, like sound waves and light waves. In this lesson we'll get an overview of waves and look at transverse and longitudinal waves, wave speed, frequency and period.
We'll also cover standing waves. Unlike most physical waves that are allowed to travel through a string or through the air, standing waves are confined to only one section of a string or air in a tube. By confining the wave, it will reflect back and forth within that section, giving us some interesting behavior.
