Currently in the Physics Classroom
by Leakey ISD Webmaster
February 17, 2012
Currently in the Physics Classroom...
by: Brandon Powers
2-17-12
Currently in the Physics classroom we are studying waves.
Skip a stone on quiet water, and water waves will fan out from every spot the stone hits. Some of the mechanical energy of your throw has created a disturbance in the water that carries away the mechanical energy of its own in the form of waves. Waves result from vibrations, and vibrations are the repeating motion of things along the same path.
Waves in water are an example of mechanical waves – waves that require some sort of solid, liquid, or gaseous medium through which to pass. The energy of the rock hitting water forced water molecules to move quickly away in all directions. Those molecules hit other molecules, which then hit additional molecules in an expanding and repeating pattern. Sound is a mechanical wave transmitted through air and, with more difficulty, through liquids and solids. Earthquakes result from waves transmitted through solid ground.
Electromagnetic waves, like light, depend on the vibration of electric and magnetic fields to carry energy, and they require no medium. They can pass from the sun or other source through the near vacuum of space.