Waves

Onyango Ochieng
Cuhas
 Waves

A wave is a disturbance of field in which a physical
attribute oscillates repeatedly at each point or propagates
from one point to neighboring point or move through
space.
 Waves

Waves carry energy from one point to another and
based on the direction of the wave in relation to the
oscillating media particle, Waves can be either:-
1. A Transverse wave or
2. Longitudinal wave or
3. Both Longitudinal and Transverse
 Transverse wave
In a transverse wave, the particles are displaced
perpendicular to the direction the wave travels.
Example:
 Longitudinal waves
• In a longitudinal wave the particles are displaced
parallel to the direction the wave travels.
• Example
Longitudinal waves
 Both Long. And Transverse wave

Surface waves, such as water waves, are generally a combination of a transverse and a
longitudinal wave. The particles on the surface of the water travel in circular paths as a
wave moves across the surface
 Pulsed wave and Continous wave
• Waves can be broadly separated into
– Pulsed wave and
– Periodic waves (Continous wave)

• A pulse is a single disturbance while a periodic

wave is a continually oscillating motion
Pulsed wave and Continous wave
 Wave Characteristics & Terminology
• Waves have characteristics closely related to
the characteristics of the particles oscillations.
• The period, frequency, and amplitude of a
wave are defined the same as the period,
frequency, and amplitude of the particle
oscillations
• Another important wave characteristic is
wavelength
 Wave Characteristics & Terminology
• Period - The time for one complete cycle. (SI unit:
seconds)
• Frequency - The number of cycles per unit time. (SI unit:
seconds-1 or Hz)
• Amplitude - The maximum displacement from the
equilibrium position. (SI unit: meters)
• Wavelength - The distance from one crest to the next (or
between any two adjacent points in the same state of
motion). (SI unit: meters)
• Wave speed is the distance a wave travels in a given
amount of time, such as the number of meters it travels
per second(SI unit: meters/second)
Wave Characteristics
 Wave Characteristics & Terminology
• The speed of a wave depends on the medium
through which it is traveling, not on its frequency or
wavelength.

• The frequency of a wave is determined by the source

producing the wave - it does not depend on the
medium through which the wave is traveling.

• The wavelength of a wave depends on both the

speed and the frequency of the wave:
 Wave Characteristics & Terminology
• Expansion - A point of maximum spacing between
particles of a medium for longitudinal waves.
• Compression - A point of minimum spacing
between particles of a medium for longitudinal
waves.
 Wave Characteristics & Terminology
• Medium - Is the material through which a wave
travels

• But not all waves actually require a physical

medium through which to travel. This fact allows
us to put all waves into two broad categories:

1. Mechanical Wave
2. Electromagnetic Waves
 Electromagnetic Waves
• Electromagnetic Waves - Do not require a
physical medium through which to travel.
Electromagnetic waves can travel through a
vacuum. Examples: Radio waves, visible light,
x-rays, Gamma rays etc
 Mechanical Wave
• Mechanical Wave - A wave that requires a
physical medium through which to travel.
Example - sound waves. Sound waves can not
travel through a vacuum (empty space).
• When a mechanical wave moves through a
physical medium, the particles in the medium
oscillate in simple harmonic motion.
 Mechanical Wave: Example
• The blue ball below is in simple harmonic
motion. Imagine that this ball represents a
particle in a solid material. If this particle is
bonded to other particles near it, its motion
will affect the motion of the particles around
it.
 SOUND
Sound is a mechanical wave that results from the back and forth vibration of the particles of the
medium through which the sound wave is moving.
 Sound Production
Sound is produced by vibrating objects
• When an object vibrates, it creates the disturbance
(sound waves) that cause the particles of the
medium around it to also vibrate
• As a result the adjacent particle gets displaced from
its position of rest.After displacing the adjacent
particle the first particle comes back to its original
position.
• This process continues in the medium and results to
transfer of sound waves (sound) from one point to
another.
http://aven.amritalearning.com/index.php?sub=102&brch=303&sim=1548&cnt=3638
 Propagation of Sound
• Sound waves can move through solids, liquids, air and
other gases.
• Sound actually moves much faster through solids and
liquids than it does through gases. This is due to the fact
that liquids and solids are much more dense, allowing
the longitudinal wave to pass from particle to particle
much more quickly.
• Sound travel faster on hotter days as the molecules
bump into each other more often than when it is cold.
But how exactly does sound propagate
through a medium?
 Sound in air
• If a sound wave is moving from left to right through air,
then particles of air will be displaced both rightward
and leftward as the energy of the sound wave passes
through it.
• The motion of the particles is parallel (and anti-parallel)
to the direction of the energy transport. This is what
characterizes sound waves in air as longitudinal waves.
 Sound in Air
• Because of the longitudinal motion of the air
particles, there are regions in the air where the air
particles are compressed together and other regions
where the air particles are spread apart.
• These regions are known as compressions and
rarefactions respectively.
• The compressions are regions of high air pressure
while the rarefactions are regions of low air pressure
 Sound in Liquids

• Sound travels faster in liquids than in gases because

molecules are more tightly packed.
• In fresh water, sound waves travel at 1,482 meters
per second (about 3,315 mph). That's well over 4
times faster than in air!
• Several ocean-dwelling animals rely upon sound
waves to communicate with other animals and to
locate food and obstacles due to the fact that
sound travels so much faster in water
 Sound in solids

• In solids, the molecules are composed in a lattice

with a lot of strong intermolecular bonds.
• This causes the molecules to be really close as
solids are very dense, Because of this, the waves
in a solid travel very very faster compare to air and
liquids
 Propagation of Sound cont..
• Since a sound wave consists of a repeating pattern
of high-pressure and low-pressure regions moving
through a medium, it is sometimes referred to as a
pressure wave.

• If a detector, whether it is the human ear or a

man-made instrument, were used to detect a
sound wave, it would detect fluctuations in
pressure as the sound wave impinges upon the
detecting device.
Propagation of Sound
 Video links
• Sound production
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGKffdaI4Pg
• Sound characteristics and behaviour
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_xZZt99MzY
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REqxyVlT45
M
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmK3LV7oB
Do
 Sound Spectrum
• Animals can detect sounds with a wide range
of frequencies. Young humans typically are
capable of detecting sounds with frequencies
from about 20 Hz to around 20,000 Hz (20KHz)

• Sound frequencies above 20,000 Hz (20KHz)

are referred to as ultrasonic, while those
below 20 Hz are called infrasonic.
 Sound Spectrum
• So the sound spectrum can be conveniently
divided into three distinct parts.
– Audible sounds are those which can be perceived
by the human ear (20Hz – 20KHz)
– Infrasound Sound which has a frequency below
that which can be perceived by the human ear
(below 20Hz)
– Ultrasound Sound of frequencies higher than that
of human perception (above 20KHz)
 ULTRASOUND
• Ultrasound may be defined as sound energy
(wave) of frequency higher than 20 kilohertz
(20 kHz).
• A technique of generating images using these
very high frequency sound (ultrasound) is
called Ultrasonography or Ultrasonic imaging
or simply Sonography
• Ultrasound for medical imaging employs
frequencies in the megahertz (MHz) range.
1 MHz = 1 million vibrations per second.
 Velocity of ultrasound
• The rate at which the ultrasound wave is
propagated through a medium (wave velocity)
varies from one medium to another
depending on the elastic properties of the
material.
• Two physical properties of the medium are
crucial in this respect. These are the
– Density and
– Compressibility of the medium
 Density of the medium
• Denser materials tend to be composed of
more massive particles.
• The propagation of the ultrasound wave is
associated with periodic movement of
medium particles.
• When these particles are massive, greater
force is required to initiate particle movement,
and also to bring to a halt such a moving
particle
 Density of the medium
• In other words, the more massive a particle is,
the greater its inertia
• So the larger force required to overcome
particle inertia in denser materials leads to the
conclusion that wave velocity should be
lower in materials of high density
 Compressibility of the medium
• Compressibility (stiffness/rigidity) refers to the
ease with which a medium can be
mechanically deformed and reformed.
• Materials of low density such as gas are easier
to compress, because their particles are
farther apart. They have high compressibility
• In contrast, high density materials have low
compressibility.
 Compressibility of the medium
• In a material of low compressibility, such as
bone, the particles are very close to each
other
• The closeness of particles to one another
implies that only slight movement of particles
is required in order to effect transfer of energy
to their neighbours is more rapid.
• This predicts a higher wave velocity in
materials of low compressibility
 Ultrasound velocity
• The ultrasound (wave) velocity as observed in
practice represents the combined effects of
medium density and compressibility.
• One factor may play the more predominant
role OR the effects of the two factors may
moderate each other
• The next slide shows the velocities of
ultrasound in air, soft tissue (average), and
bone And how these factors play their role
 Ultrasound velocity
Material Meters/sec • Among these materials,
Air 330 the velocity is highest in
bone, and lowest in air.
Pure water 1430
• While the higher density of
Fat 1450 bone predicts reduced
velocity of ultrasound, its
Soft Tissue 1540 (Avarage) lower compressibility
increases the velocity to a
Muscle 1585 greater extent.
Bone 3500 - 4080 • Compressibility is the more
predominant factor here.
40
 Question
1. Discuss the ultrasound wave characteristics
and behaviors
END.
Focus