What is the difference between a transverse and a compression wave?

A longitudinal wave is a wave that moves in the direction that it was started. It has a compression (increased intensity) of the medium particles and a rarefaction (a reduction of intensity). A transverse wave is wave that travels perpendicular or at right angles to the direction it was started.

What is the differential equation of wave motion?

⇒d2ydt2=(ω2k2)d2ydx2. This equation is called the one dimensional differential equation of waves.

How are a compression wave and a water wave alike and different?

Compression wave also longitudinal wave are wave whose vibration of particles is parallel to the wave motion. Both are mechanical wave such that they require a material medium for transmission; water wave require water as the material medium, while longitudinal waves such as sound require medium such air, string.

How are compression waves different from transverse waves?

We call traveling compression waves in liquids “longitudinal waves,” in contrast to “transverse waves” typified by a vibrating string. The direction that the material moves, relative to the direction of wave propagation, makes the difference.

What is the equation for a transverse wave?

The electromagnetic wave equation with E = Ey or Ez, a transverse wave propagating along the x -axis, is (20.167)∂2E (x, t) ∂x2 − 1 v2 ∂2E (x, t) ∂t2 = 0.

How are compression waves related to particle motion?

Longitudinal or compression waves (scalar). The compression of the wave at any point along the string can be described by a scalar quantity. Particle motion is parallel to the direction of travel of the wave.

How to calculate the direction of a pressure wave?

The general solution of the above wave equation describes a pressure wave traveling in the positive, x, direction as a function P ( x−cmt ): where αm is the attenuation of the medium, ω is the frequency of ultrasound, and P0 is the initial amplitude of the pressure.