This page will provide you with everything you need to know about completing your upcoming in-class experiment on wave mechanics. Begin with the subject background information and take some time to familiarize yourself with the key concepts and terms related to waves. After you have the basics down, thoroughly review the experiment procedure so you know how to set up this experiment and properly record observations before we get started. You might not have time to finish the experiment in class if you have to learn what you’re doing when you should be getting started!
INTRODUCTION TO WAVES
- There are 3 primary types of waves:
- Surface Wave: A vibration along the interface between two media. For instance, the surface of a pool of water is an interface between water and air.
- Transverse Wave: The medium oscillates perpendicular to the wave’s direction of travel. If a transverse wave travels horizontally, then its medium is displaced vertically. Watch it in slow motion:
- Compression (Longitudinal) Wave: The medium is squeezed and stretched parallel to the direction of the wave’s travel as it passes over. Sound is a compression wave, it can travel through a solid, liquid, or gas. Where the medium is squeezed you have Compression, where it is stretched you have Rarefaction.
PROPERTIES OF A WAVE:
- Is this a mechanical wave? Click the image to loop it and Click here for the explanation…
- One last example:
What type of wave is traveling through the guitar strings? What type of wave is traveling between the strings and your ears?
You will work in groups of at least 3, two people holding ends of the slinky and one person holding a stop watch. Familiarize yourself with this procedure now, so you’ll know what you’re doing when class begins, and bring up any questions you have early on: Slinky Experiment
*This entry was created for an education course in instructional technology. This Write-Up explains my thought process in designing this unit lesson plan.