Cards In This Set
Q. What are four ways that waves interact with matter?
Waves interact with matter in several ways. The interactions occur when waves pass from one medium to another. The types of interactions are reflection, refraction, and diffraction. Each type of interaction is described in detail below.
Table of Contents
Q. What is the measure of energy in a wave?
Amplitude means a measure of the amount of energy in a wave. Notice in the drawing below how the amplitude measures the height a wave is going above or below the resting position of the wave.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Waves that strike an object are called ______ waves? | Incident |
| Waves that bounce off are called ______ waves? | Reflected |
| A perpendicular line drawn from where the incident wave strikes is called the ______? | Normal |
| The angle between the incident wave and the normal is the angle of ______? | Incidence |
Q. What is a wave profile?
The system carrying the waves is called the medium. A displacement against distance graph, or wave profile, shows the displacement of points along the medium at one instant of time. The distance between any two adjacent points which are in phase is one wavelength (l).
Q. What if light could go round corners?
Yes, light can bend around corners. In fact, light always bends around corners to some extent. This is a basic property of light and all other waves. The ability of light to bend around corners is also known as “diffraction”.
Q. Can sound bend around corners?
Diffraction: the bending of waves around small* obstacles and the spreading out of waves beyond small* openings. The fact that you can hear sounds around corners and around barriers involves both diffraction and reflection of sound. Diffraction in such cases helps the sound to “bend around” the obstacles.
