GCSE Physics · AQA 8463 · Topic 4.6
Waves
Key points
- Waves transfer energy from one place to another without transferring matter.
- Transverse waves oscillate at right angles to the energy transfer (light, water ripples); longitudinal waves oscillate parallel to it, with compressions and rarefactions (sound).
- Wave speed: ; period: .
- Electromagnetic waves form a continuous spectrum: radio, microwaves, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. They all travel at the same speed in a vacuum.
- Waves can be reflected, refracted, absorbed or transmitted. Refraction happens because the speed changes at a boundary.
- (Separate physics) Lenses, visible light and colour, ultrasound, seismic waves and black body radiation.
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Waves carry energy and information without carrying matter: sound, light, radio, X-rays and earthquakes are all waves. This topic gives you a small set of ideas, mostly the wave equation and what happens at boundaries, that apply to every…
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