Which feature is necessary for a wave to be classified as longitudinal?
Oscillation of particles is in the same direction as wave travel
Mechanical waves are classified by comparing the direction in which the particles of the medium vibrate with the direction in which the wave travels.
In a longitudinal wave the particles vibrate back and forth along the direction of travel of the wave, producing alternate compressions and rarefactions. Sound waves in air are the common example.
When the particles vibrate at right angles to the direction of travel, the wave is transverse, as in a stretched string. Circular motion of particles is seen in surface water waves, which combine both kinds of motion, and random motion of particles is just thermal motion, not a wave.
Hence, Oscillation of particles is in the same direction as wave travel.
Similar Questions
A student observes two different musical notes from two sources. Note X has a greater number of compressions passing a fixed point per second than Note Y, but both have the same loudness. Based on the characteristics of sound, what can be concluded about Note X compared to Note Y?
Which of the following statements best explains what happens to the speed of sound when it travels from air into water?
Reverberation is the phenomenon of:
If you shout to your friend who is at the same distance from you across a playground and is also touching the other end of a steel rail, through which path will your friend hear your voice first, and why?
Which of the following situations best illustrates the use of infrasonic waves in real life?
A school auditorium has walls covered with thick curtains. When a student shouts, very little echo is heard compared to a similar auditorium with bare concrete walls. Which property of the curtains primarily explains this observation?
In a classroom experiment, a student tightly holds the prongs of a tuning fork after striking it and listens carefully. No sound is heard. Which explanation best fits this observation?
Soft sounds are produced when the amplitude of vibration is ______.
A student claims that if a sound wave has a time period of 0.01 s, its frequency must be lower than that of a wave with a time period of 0.005 s. Is this statement correct based on the relation between frequency and time period?
Which quantity is directly proportional to the speed of sound, if the frequency is kept constant?
Important Questions from Wave
- When a longitudinal wave moves through a certain medium, the quantity which is transmitted through the medium is
- Which one of the following phenomena CANNOT be exhibited by sound waves?
Statement I: Sound waves can travel through vacuum.
Statement II: Light is an electromagnetic wave and can travel through vacuum.$\gamma$-ray consists of:
- For communication, elephants can make noises as loud as 103 decibels but they often use low frequency sound, some of which is passed through the ground. These sounds are called:
