Introduction to the physics of waves by tim freegarde. Motion of the wave s energy motion of individual molecules of the wave transverse waves two motions are perpendicular waves on a string, water surface waves longitudinal waves two motions are parallel sound waves. We begin our study of waves in this first unit of physics 7c with an introduction to waves and then a thorough development of the harmonic plane wave model, which we will use extensively to model and understand a wide variety of wave phenomena in this section we will familiarize ourselves with waves by concentrating on material waves. Explain the difference between a principle and a law. Make waves with water, sound, and light and see how they are related. Make waves with a dripping faucet, audio speaker, or laser. The basic concepts discussed in this introductory package may be applied to all waves. Department of physical sciencesand engineering prince georges community college largo, maryland.
Introduction to the physics of waves request pdf researchgate. Standing waves are actually multiple waves that are interfering with each other. Motion of the wave s energy motion of individual molecules of the wave transverse waves two motions are perpendicular waves on a string, water surface waves longitudinal waves two motions are parallel sound waves waves can have both transverse and longitudinal motion. Waves that have the direction of oscillation the same as the direction of travel are called transverse waves. To motivate the introduction of complex numbers, we will begin by exhibiting the relation. I am using this book as part of a physics course as an introduction to wave behavior. The high point of a transverse wave is a called the crest, and the low point is called the trough. Introduction to vibrations and waves theoretical physics. Waves and wave properties presentation pdf teach engineering. The most familiar type of waves such as waves on a string, water waves, sound waves, seismic waves, etc. Lecture notes presenting an elementary introduction to the theory of gravitational waves. Anyone who has played a stringed instrument has probably seen standing waves on the strings.
Physics 0702 hookes law and simple harmonic motion. A sinusoidal wave of frequency 500 hz has a speed of 350 ms. Like the student from cornell said, though, this text is completely indecipherable to a student. Longitudinal compressional waves with your free hand, grasp the spring about 50 cm from the end. The weak gravitational field approximation is first considered and the linearized einsteins equations. In the simplest waves, the disturbance oscillates periodically see periodic motion with a fixed frequency and.
The goal of any study of kinematics is to develop sophisticated mental models that serve to describe and ultimately, explain the. You will also be introduced to the standards scientists use when they study physical quantities and the. Introduction to quantum mechanics harvard university. Physics 0703 sound, speed, frequency, and wavelength. Wave is a periodic oscillation travels through medium at speed v and carries an energy e waves are divided in two types of waves. Notice that the lengths of the wavefronts passing through the gap get wider. The beauty of a coral reef, the warm radiance of sunshine, the sting of sunburn, the xray revealing a broken bone, even microwave popcornall are brought to us by electromagnetic waves. Jun 23, 2019 we begin our study of waves in this first unit of physics 7c with an introduction to waves and then a thorough development of the harmonic plane wave model, which we will use extensively to model and understand a wide variety of wave phenomena. To produce the sound waves we hear as music, a violin string has a displacement wave moving on it, and similar statements hold for other instruments. The author shows through a broad approach how wave phenomena can be observed in a variety of physical situations and explains how their. May 11, 2018 for the love of physics walter lewin may 16, 2011 duration. A wave is any kind of disturbance that moves through space or matter. Waves come in two kinds, longitudinal and transverse. The higher the frequency, the more energy in the wave.
In the previous chapter, we studied the motion of objects. We begin our study of waves in this first unit of physics 7c with an introduction to waves and then a thorough development of the harmonic plane wave model, which we will use extensively to model and understand a wide variety of wave phenomena. The material discussed here includes probability, relativity, quantum me. Standing waves a standing wave is a wave that appears to move sideways, but doesnt appear to be traveling along the spring. Hear the sound produced by the speaker, and discover what determines the color of light. Chapter 1 introduction humans have interacted with some form of waves for a very long time, though of course they were not known as such. Waves are responsible for basically every form of communication we use. Physics coursewaves wikibooks, open books for an open world. The radio in your car receives the radio waves, decodes the information, and uses a speaker to change it back into a sound wave, bringing sweet music to your ears. Download pdf introduction to the physics of waves book full free. Balancing concise mathematical analysis with the realworld examples and practical applications that inspire students, this textbook provides a clear and approachable introduction to the physics of waves. It focuses primarily on the wave and ray descriptions of light, but also includes a brief intro duction to the quantum description of light. Waves a wave is a disturbance that pppg gropagates through space and time, usually with transferrance of energy.
The fourth section uses the ideal string model to derive the onedimensional homogeneous wave equation. Introduction to the physics of waves and sound uvic. For the love of physics walter lewin may 16, 2011 duration. The physics classroom physics tutorial vibrations and waves. Quantum mechanics can be thought of roughly as the study of physics on very small length scales, although there are also certain macroscopic systems it directly applies to. In this article, i present an elementary introduction to the theory of gravitational waves. Introduction to waves a bit of gossip starting in washington reaches new york. This book provides an introduction to the eld of optics from a physics perspective. In both signal processing and theoretical physics, it is usually more comfortable. Adjust frequency and amplitude, and observe the effects. Electromagnetic waves waves that do not need matter medium to transfer energy examples. A wave is a disturbance that moves through space or matter. The formalism that has been developed to describe the saturation of a single. While it does not require a background in physics to understand, it is assumed that the reader has at least high school level linear algebra, calculus, and trigonometry.
Most familiar are surface waves that travel on water, but sound, light, and the motion of subatomic particles all exhibit wavelike properties. The goal of any study of kinematics is to develop sophisticated mental models that serve to describe and ultimately, explain the motion of realworld objects. It is written at a level which presurnes a prior tull years course in classical physics, and a knowledge of elementary differential and integral calculus. Amplitude, period, phase shift and frequency physics index. The list of the various types of electromagnetic waves, ranging from radio transmission waves to nuclear gammaray. Only a solid can support transverse waves, since it requires shear force. Water waves at a gap as the gap enlarges, the two edges act as centres for circular waves. Whether youre talking out loud or texting on your phone, theres going to be a wave transmitting information. While a mechanical wave exists in a medium which on deformation is capable of producing elastic restoring forces waves ofproducing elastic restoring forces, waves of. Introduction to waves henry county school district. There are less visible but equally pervasive sound waves and electromagnetic waves. Conversely, radio waves are electromagnetic waves, like visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, xrays, and gamma rays. Kinematics is the science of describing the motion of objects using words, diagrams, numbers, graphs, and equations.
A wave is a disturbance that propagates through space. This article is meant for students who have had an exposure to general relativity, but, results from general relativity used in the main discussion have been derived and discussed in the appendices. Longitudinal waves two different motions to describe in a wave. Traveling waves appear only after a thorough exploration of onedimensional standing waves. A traveling mechanical wave is a local deformation strain in some physical medium that propagates from particle to particle by creating local stresses that cause. The physics of waves version date february 15, 2015. Each lesson includes informative graphics, occasional animations and videos, and check your understanding sections that allow the user to practice what is taught. Learn the fundamentals of waves and sound in this unit. Introduction to the mechanics of waves mihir sen department of aerospace and mechanical engineering. There are familiar, everyday sorts of waves in water, ropes and springs. While a mechanical wave exists in a medium which on deformation is capable of producing elastic restoring forces waves ofproducing elastic restoring forces, waves of electromagnetic radiation and probably gravitational. Pdf introduction to the physics of waves download full. Period t is the time for one complete oscillation of.
Freegardes text on waves allows construction of a more cohesive physics curriculum, one with significant scaffolding, designed to revisit, reinforce and refine student understanding of core concepts, both within the bounds of this foundational course and, quite naturally, in subsequent courses that follow within the physics major. Brown physics textbooks introductory physics i and ii a lecture note style textbook series intended to support the teaching of introductory physics, with calculus, at a level suitable for duke undergraduates. They involve oscillations of constituent particles and depend on the elastic properties of the medium. We hear via sound waves, and we see via electromagnetic waves in the frequency range we call light. Speech and sound, for example, which enabled communication among ourselves. This book is intended as a general introduction to modern physics for science and engineering students. The types of waves most commonly studied in physics are mechanical and electromagnetic. Brown physics textbooks introductory physics i and ii a lecture note style textbook series intended to support the teaching of introductory physics, with calculus, at a. In a mechanical wave, stress and strain fields oscillate about a mechanical equilibrium.
The evolution of physics a wave is a transfer of energy without the transfer of matter. Explain the difference between a model and a theory. These waves require a medium for propagation, they cannot propagate through vacuum. A water wave is an example of a surface wave, which is a combination of transverse and longitudinal wave motions. Sound creates pressure variations waves in matter, such as air or water, or your eardrum.
The physics classroom tutorial presents physics concepts and principles in an easytounderstand language. The opening session of the physics degree course at imperial college includes an introduction to vibrations and waves where the stress is laid on the underlying unity of. In this section we will familiarize ourselves with waves by concentrating on material waves. A practical introduction to radio physics wireless communications make use of electromagnetic waves to send signals across long distances.
Physics 0610 entropy and the 2nd law of thermodynamics. The basic concepts discussed in this introductory package may be applied to all waves including the three shown below. As a physics major at a school with a very rigorous program, i have already proven myself competent by surviving, and enjoying, my first year of physics courses. Even more important, though only touched on in this book, is the wave phenomenon of quantum mechanics, built into the fabric of our space and time. This physics textbook is designed to support my personal teaching activities at duke university, in particular teaching its physics 141142, 151152, or 161162 series introductory physics for life science majors, engineers, or potential physics majors, respectively. Determine the appropriate number of significant figures in both addition and. In taking a bath or going for a swim, we are literally. The disturbance or variation can be a change in pressure, electrical intensity or many other things, but there is always a transfer of energy.
Conceptual ideas develop logically and sequentially, ultimately leading into the mathematics of the topics. Transverse waves are like those on water, with the surface going up and down, and longitudinal waves are like of those of sound, consisting of alternating compressions and rarefactions in a medium. I hope to emphasize that the physics of standing waves is the same. Physics form 5 introduction to waves page 7 for plane boundaries, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. From a user s perspective, wireless connections are not particularly different from any other network connection. Based on the successful multiedition book the physics of vibrations and waves by john pain, the authors carry over the simplicity and logic of the approach taken in the original first edition with its focus on the patterns underlying and connecting so many aspects of physical behavior, whilst bringing the subject up to date so it is relevant to teaching in the 21st century.
Displacement is the distance of a particle of the wave from its equilibrium position at any particular time amplitude a is the maximum displacement of a particle of the wave from its equilibrium position. Introduction to the physics of waves available for download and read online in other formats. Introduction waves occur in almost all branches of science. In taking a bath or going for a swim, we are literally bathed by water waves. The wavelength of the reflected wave is the same of that of the wavelength of the incident wave. A physics revision video introducing the concepts of waves. To be submitted to resonance, journal of science education with a lesser mathematical content. It is observed that the circular waves have smaller crests than the plane waves passing through the middle. Request pdf introduction to the physics of waves preface. Sawtooth wave square wave sine wave waves are typically disturbances in some medium. Based on the successful multiedition book the physics of vibrations and waves by john pain, the authors carry over the simplicity and logic of the approach taken in the original first edition with its focus on the patterns underlying and connecting so many aspects of physical behavior, whilst bringing the subject uptodate so it is relevant to teaching in the 21 st century. Waves in which the medium moves at right angles to the direction of the wave. Introduction and types a wave is a transfer of energy through a medium from one point to another. Introduction to waves general remarks we are bathed in waves, and two of our senses are wave detectors.
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