Mell What happens when waves encounter a barrier?
A wave encountering a small obstacle tends to bend around the obstacle. This bending of the wavefront is called diffraction. When a wave encounters a barrier with an aperture, which is much smaller than the wavelength, the wave bends and spreads out as a spherical circular wave.
What can medium waves not travel through?
Electromagnetic waves differ from mechanical waves in that they do not require a medium to propagate. This means that electromagnetic waves can travel not only through air and solid materials, but also through the vacuum of space.
What happens when light hits a medium it Cannot pass through?
Refraction is an effect that occurs when a light wave, incident at an angle away from the normal, passes a boundary from one medium into another in which there is a change in velocity of the light. The wavelength decreases as the light enters the medium and the light wave changes direction.
What happens when a wave hits a solid?
When sound waves in air (pressure waves) encounter a hard surface, there is no phase change upon reflection. That is, when the high pressure part of a sound wave hits the wall, it will be reflected as a high pressure, not a reversed phase which would be a low pressure.
Why do waves slow down in shallow water?
In shallower water near the coast, waves slow down because of the force exerted on them by the seabed. Even if waves are coming in from deep water at an angle to the beach, the move to shallower water means that the waves will slow down and curve around (refract) so they are more parallel as the surf hits the beach.
Why sound waves can not be polarized?
Unlike transverse waves such as electromagnetic waves, longitudinal waves such as sound waves cannot be polarized. Since sound waves vibrate along their direction of propagation, they cannot be polarized.
Why do sound waves require a medium to travel?
There has to be some molecular movement for it to travel. Naturally, the vast vacuum of space is devoid of matter. Therefore, there are no molecules for sound waves to hitch a ride on. In fact, sounds are, by definition, vibrations moving through air or another medium. Different properties of various mediums make sounds change in different ways.
How does the interference of waves affect the medium?
The interference of waves causes the medium to take on a shape that results from the net effect of the two individual waves upon the particles of the medium. To begin our exploration of wave interference, consider two pulses of the same amplitude traveling in different directions along the same medium.
How are waves reflected in a transparent medium?
Light doesn’t travel through a mirror, but is returned by the mirror’s surface. These waves are reflected. When waves strike the surface of a medium at an angle, their direction changes. These waves are refracted. Usually waves are partly reflected and partly refracted when they fall on a transparent medium.
Why are S-waves cannot propagate through liquids?
Liquids lack shear strength. This is the reason why, if you take a glass of water and suddenly remove the glass, the water will not keep its shape. In fact, it is just a matter of rigidity: S-waves need a medium that is rigid enough for them to propagate. This is why S-waves cannot propagate through liquids.