WHAT
IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LONGITUDINAL AND TRANSVERSE WAVES?
Longitudinal
Waves
In
a longitudinal wave, the motion of the medium
is parallel to the direction of the wave . This means
that the particles move left and right which in turn
makes the other particles start to oscillate. Sound
waves are longitudinal waves.
Another
example of a longitudinal wave is a P wave or primary
wave during an earthquake. P waves are also known
as compressional waves, because of the pushing and
pulling they do. See
information on P waves
Transverse
Waves
A
transverse wave is a wave in which the motion of the
medium is a right angles to the direction of the wave.
A
wave on a rope is a transverse wave. Light and other
electromagnetic waves are also transverse waves.
Another
type of transverse wave is the S wave or secondary
wave, which is the second wave you feel in an earthquake.
See information on S
waves
Combination
of Waves will produce Surface Waves
Some
waves cannot be described only as longitudinal or transverse.
They are instead a combination of the two waves. An example of
such a wave is a surface wave. Surface waves, as the name implies,
occur at the surface of two material.
Below
are videos of surface waves caused caused during an earthquake.
Rayleigh
Waves
A
Rayleigh wave rolls along the ground just like a wave
rolls across a lake or an ocean. Because it rolls,
it moves the ground up and down, and side-to-side
in the same direction that the wave is moving. Most
of the shaking felt from an earthquake is due to the
Rayleigh wave, which can be much larger than the other
waves.
Love
Waves
The
Love wave is the first kind of surface wave during
an earthquake. The Love wave was named after A.E.H.
Love, a British mathematician. It's the fastest surface
wave and moves the ground from side-to-side.
