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GCSE Physics · key term
Repeated movement or change back and forth about a central position or value.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Specification 4.6.2.3 · Paper 2
A repeated movement or change about a central position or value.
Revise: Properties of electromagnetic waves 2In a transmitting aerial, this oscillation produces radio waves. The waves travel away from the aerial, carrying energy.
Specification 4.1, 4.2, 4.5, 5.7, 5.23 · Paper 1
A repeated movement to and fro about an equilibrium position.
Always compare the direction of oscillation with the direction in which the wave travels: perpendicular means transverse; parallel means longitudinal.
State that the oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of wave travel; do not merely say that a transverse wave moves up and down.
Describe both directions of the process: an electrical oscillation produces a radio wave, while an incoming radio wave induces an electrical oscillation.
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Repeated movement backwards and forwards, or up and down, about an equilibrium position.
Repeated movement back and forth about an equilibrium position.
A repeated variation about an equilibrium value or direction.
A repeated change back and forth about a central value; in a circuit, current, charge or potential difference can oscillate.
Specification P5.2j · Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 4 (Higher)
Revise: Radio waves productionIf an electrical circuit supplies a rapidly alternating current to a transmitting aerial, electric charges move back and forth in the aerial. This oscillation produces a radio wave that travels away through space. The wave has the same frequency as the oscillation producing it: if the charges complete more back-and-forth cycles each second, the radio wave has a higher frequency.
Paper 1, Paper 2
Repeated variation of a quantity, such as an electric current, about a central value.
Revise: Uses and Hazards of Electromagnetic WavesThe process is therefore reversible in an important sense: oscillations in a transmitting circuit produce radio waves, and incoming radio waves induce oscillations in a receiving circuit. For this OCR course, recalling this relationship is a Higher Tier requirement.