Question

Explain the characteristics of wave motion.

Answer 1

we can define wave motion as a kind of disturbance which travels through a material medium ( having properties of elasticity and inertia) on account of repeated periodic vibrations of the particles of the medium about their mean position , the disturbance being handed on from one particle to the adjoining particle and so on , without any net transport of the medium.

Characteristics of Wave Motion


Wave motion is the propagation of a disturbance produced in a medium by the repeated periodic motion of the particles of the
medium.
It is only the energy of the disturbance that moves forward without any mass transfer.
In an elastic medium, the frequency and the amplitude of oscillation of each particle is the same. However, each particle starts vibrating a little later than its predecessor and thus, there is a regular phase difference between the successive particles of the medium.
The wave velocity is different from the particle velocity. While the wave travels with a uniform velocity, the velocity of the particle is different at different positions. It is maximum at the mean position and zero at the extreme positions of oscillation.
Waves may undergo reflection, refraction, interference, dispersion and diffraction.
The energy of a wave is partly kinetic and partly potential and the total energy remains constant.
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