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Thursday, June 28, 2018

Mechanical Waves and Non- Mechanical Waves | Types of Waves - Iken ...
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A mechanical wave is a wave that is an oscillation of matter, and therefore transfers energy through a medium. While waves can move over long distances, the movement of the medium of transmission--the material--is limited. Therefore, the oscillating material does not move far from its initial equilibrium position. Mechanical waves transport energy. This energy propagates in the same direction as the wave. Any kind of wave (mechanical or electromagnetic) has a certain energy. Mechanical waves can be produced only in media which possess elasticity and inertia.

A mechanical wave requires nonlinear effects such as harmonic generation may occur, and, if large enough, may result in chaotic effects. For example, waves on the surface of a body of water break when this dimensionless amplitude exceeds 1, resulting in a foam on the surface and turbulent mixing. Some of the most common examples of mechanical waves are water waves, sound waves, and seismic waves.

There are three types of mechanical waves: transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and surface waves.


Video Mechanical wave



Transverse wave

Transverse waves cause the medium to vibrate at a right angle to the direction of the wave or energy being carried by the medium. Transverse waves have two parts--the crest and the trough. The crest is the highest point of the wave and the trough is the lowest. The distance between a subsequent crest and a trough is half of wavelength. The wavelength is the distance from crest to crest or from trough to trough.

To see an example, move an end of a Slinky (whose other end is fixed) to the left-and-right of the Slinky, as opposed to to-and-fro. Light also has properties of a transverse wave, although it is an electromagnetic wave.


Maps Mechanical wave



Longitudinal wave

Longitudinal waves cause the medium to vibrate parallel to the direction of the wave. It consists of multiple compressions and rarefactions. The rarefaction is the farthest distance apart in the longitudinal wave and the compression is the closest distance together. The speed of the longitudinal wave is increased in higher index of refraction, due to the closer proximity of the atoms in the medium that is being compressed. Sound is considered a longitudinal wave.


Cardboard Mechanical Wave Toy
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Surface waves

This type of wave travels along a surface that is between two media. An example of a surface wave would be waves in a pool, or in an ocean, lake, or any other type of water body. There are two types of surface waves, namely Rayleigh waves and Love waves.

Rayleigh waves, also known as ground roll, are waves that travel as ripples with motion similar to those of waves on the surface of water. Rayleigh waves are much slower than body waves, roughly 90% of the velocity of body waves for a typical homogeneous elastic medium.

A Love wave is a surface wave having horizontal waves that are shear or transverse to the direction of propagation. They usually travel slightly faster than Rayleigh waves, about 90% of the body wave velocity, and have the largest amplitude.


Science online: Mechanical waves and some technological ...
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Examples

  • Ocean waves
  • Sound waves
  • Seismic waves

7.2.2 Speed of Mechanical Waves - YouTube
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References

Source of article : Wikipedia