Wave energy
Vocabulary
Medium - A solid, liquid or gas that a wave travels through. Light doesn't need a medium. It can travel through space.
Frequency - The number of times a wave passes a point per second. Often Frequency = Energy. The more frequency a wave has, the larger the energy it has. If a wave has a short wavelength, more of its waves will be able to pass a point per second. So a small wavelength makes a large frequency. The opposite is also true. A large wavelength or a large wave would have a small frequency. They are inverses of each other.
Amplitude - The height of the wave or the intensity of the wave. Amplitude is another form of energy in a wave. It affects different aspects of the wave but is still energy.
Medium - A solid, liquid or gas that a wave travels through. Light doesn't need a medium. It can travel through space.
Frequency - The number of times a wave passes a point per second. Often Frequency = Energy. The more frequency a wave has, the larger the energy it has. If a wave has a short wavelength, more of its waves will be able to pass a point per second. So a small wavelength makes a large frequency. The opposite is also true. A large wavelength or a large wave would have a small frequency. They are inverses of each other.
Amplitude - The height of the wave or the intensity of the wave. Amplitude is another form of energy in a wave. It affects different aspects of the wave but is still energy.
Frequency and Amplitude in Light and Sound
Frequency and amplitude change the appearance of light waves and they change the sound of sound waves. Below is a table that shows the changes of each. Know them!
To the left is a picture of what the sound waves would look like in each of its changes (actually, sound waves are compression waves, not transverse ones. But it's much harder to make these comparisons with compression waves)
Frequency Amplitude
High Low High Low
Light Purple Red Bright Dim
Sound High Pitch Low Pitch Loud Quiet
To the left is a picture of what the sound waves would look like in each of its changes (actually, sound waves are compression waves, not transverse ones. But it's much harder to make these comparisons with compression waves)
Frequency Amplitude
High Low High Low
Light Purple Red Bright Dim
Sound High Pitch Low Pitch Loud Quiet