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GCSE Combined Science · key term
A travelling disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another without transferring the material of the medium from end to end.
Used by AQA and Edexcel
Specification 6.6.1.1 · Paper 6
Revise: Transverse and Longitudinal WavesA wave is a travelling disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another. Water ripples and sound waves travel through a medium: the material carrying the disturbance. For ripples, this is water; for sound in air, it is air.
Paper 5, Paper 6
A disturbance that transfers energy and information without a net transfer of matter.
Revise: Wave properties and velocityA wave is a travelling disturbance. It transfers energy and information without a net transfer of matter. For example, sound carries energy from a speaker to a listener and carries information in the pattern of vibrations that makes up speech.
When comparing wave types, state the direction of the oscillations relative to the direction of energy transfer: perpendicular or parallel.
For evidence that waves do not transfer matter, give both the observation and its meaning: a floating object bobs in place while ripples pass, so the water is not travelling along with the wave.
In a longitudinal-wave diagram, closely spaced particles show a compression and widely spaced particles show a rarefaction.
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