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04/12/02 - Note
SOME DEFINITIONS AND UNIVERSAL WAVE EQUATION
Amplitude:
the distance from a crest or trough to the line of rest
Rarefaction: the region of a longitudinal wave where particles are far apart from one another
Compression:
the region of a longitudinal wave where particles are close to one another
Wavelength
(lambda, l):
the distance between two identical regions in a wave. Eg. Crest to crest, trough
to trough, or compression to compression etc. UNIT- m meters
The
velocity of a traveling wave is related to wavelength and time.
Remember
that v
= d / t
For
waves, d will be replaced with l
and t replaced with T,
But,
T = 1 / f
Therefore
v = l
f
THIS IS THE UNIVERSAL WAVE EQUATION