{"id":319,"date":"2020-04-15T19:38:57","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T19:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/?page_id=319"},"modified":"2026-05-14T08:05:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T08:05:18","slug":"transverse","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/exhibits\/waves\/transverse\/","title":{"rendered":"Transverse Waves"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20)\" class=\"is-style-mini-bar wp-block-post-title\">Transverse Waves<\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-base-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignnone is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-b4b75a54 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained has-global-padding wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"850\" height=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/TransWaves1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/TransWaves1.jpg 850w, https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/TransWaves1-300x85.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/TransWaves1-768x217.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Shive Wave Machine is shown above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time by the transfer of energy without the transfer of matter. When a moving wave consists of oscillations occurring perpendicularly to the direction of energy transfer, it is called a <u>Transverse Wave<\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An example of transverse wave is when we created a wave in a rope by stretching it and moving one end back and forth again and again. Electromagnetic waves, such as the light, are also examples of transverse waves<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this exhibit, each stick moves up and down. The energy is transferred to the neighbors through the twisting of the central wire, which cause a cascade of oscillations between neighboring sticks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"427\" height=\"144\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/wave1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/wave1.jpg 427w, https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/wave1-300x101.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waves can be described by a number of variables, included: <em>amplitude, wavelength, period <\/em>and <em>frequency<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-more-space\">\n<li>The <em><u>amplitude of a wave (A)<\/u><\/em> is a measure of the magnitude of a disturbance in the medium during one wave cycle. In this exhibit, the amplitude of a wave will be the distance between the maximum displacement of the stick on the vertical direction and the equilibrium point (the point of zero displacement).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <u>wavelength (<\/u><em><u>\u03bb<\/u><\/em><u>)<\/u> is the total distance traveled by the wave in one full cycle. In this case, the wavelength can be given by horizontal distance between repeating units of wave pattern.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <u>period (<em>T<\/em>)<\/u> is the amount of time it takes to complete one cycle.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <u>frequency (<em>f<\/em>)<\/u> is the number of cycles the wave completes in a given time, and is the inverse of the period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>f = 1\/T<\/em>, where <em>T<\/em> is given in seconds (s) and <em>f<\/em> in hertz (Hz).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The frequency and wavelength are related by the velocity of wave:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>v = <\/em><em>\u03bb<\/em><em> f<\/em>, where \u03bb is in meter (m) and <em>f <\/em>is in Hz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone wp-image-321 size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"611\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/transverse-wave_amp.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/transverse-wave_amp.jpg 611w, https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/04\/transverse-wave_amp-300x141.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 611px) 100vw, 611px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Transverse Wave<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>To Do 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list is-style-more-space\">\n<li>Press the white bottom to start.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Switch S1 down to Pulse mode.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adjust the knobs of Amplitude and Frequency the way you can see clearly a pulse of wave.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vary kindly the Amplitude and Frequency and notice the difference on the pulse shape.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>To Do 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list is-style-more-space\">\n<li>Switch S1 down to Wave mode.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adjust the knobs of Amplitude and Frequency the way you can see clearly a wave propagated through the exhibit.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vary kindly the Amplitude and Frequency and notice the difference on the wave shape.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>To Do 3:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list is-style-more-space\">\n<li>On the Wave mode, switch S2 up to turn on the Damp mode.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Notice the difference on the wave shape.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make the same on the Pulse mode.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.physics.wisc.edu\/facultywiki\/Demonstrations\">Physics Lecture Demonstration Database<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list is-style-more-space\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.physics.wisc.edu\/facultywiki\/Transverse_Wave\">Transverse Wave, 3B10.30<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.physics.wisc.edu\/facultywiki\/MeldesString\">Melde&#8217;s Vibrating String, 3B22.10<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Shive Wave Machine is shown above. A wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time by the transfer of energy without the transfer of matter. When a moving wave consists of oscillations occurring perpendicularly to the direction of energy transfer, it is called a Transverse Wave An example of transverse wave is &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":55,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_uw_migration_status":"complete","_uw_gutenberg_post_content_before_migration":"","_uw_seo_meta_title":"","_uw_seo_meta_description":"","_uw_seo_twitter_card_type":"","_uw_seo_meta_image":"","_uw_seo_meta_image_url":"","_uw_seo_meta_image_sizes":[],"_uw_seo_custom_meta_tags":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-319","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1054,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/319\/revisions\/1054"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/55"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.physics.wisc.edu\/ingersollmuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}