Waves Through Different Mediums - 3/11/18



Summary: A wave is a disturbance of a medium which transports energy through the medium without permanently transporting matter. There are two types of waves, there are mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves. An example of a mechanical wave is sound, and mechanical waves require matter, or a medium, in order to pass. Electromagnetic waves do not require a medium and an example of one is light. There is a spectrum of electromagnetic waves and we can only see a very small portion of it. The things we can see in the electromagnetic spectrum are the following: radio waves, microwaves, infrared, invisible light, ultraviolet light (UV), x-rays, and gamma rays. Sound waves are both mechanical waves and longitudinal waves. The mediums sound require to travel through are solids, gases, and liquids. Sound waves travel the fastest through solids, because the molecules are close together. Sound waves travel slower but farther in a liquid, because the molecules are still close (just not as close as solids) to each other. Sound waves travel the slowest in a gas, because the molecules are far apart.

SP2 - Using Models: I used models this week to help me learn about the different wave motions. The wave motions are pulse waves, standing waves, and longitudinal waves. The way we re-created these waves were by using Slinky's. Pulse waves are like heart beats, standing waves are like when you play the violin, and longitudinal waves are sound waves. We used the Slinky's as models for the waves, but the slinky is a wave itself. Slinky's create mechanical waves, since the waves past through a medium. I also know it's a mechanical wave because it creates sound, not light.

XCC-Cause and Effect: Near the end of the weak, we learned about analog and digital technology. We learned their differences, and we compared the two to see which one is better. Sampling is when you convert analog information to digital. Sampling is an example of a cause and effect relationship. An example of sampling is when you speak in a phone. Your voice is energy traveling through air into the microphone of the phone. This then converts the voice/energy to electrical signals. We concluded that analog is more accurate than digital. This is because analog records the original information while you can lose some information through digital.

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