Indeed when we look at the ocean it is much easier to see the wavefronts than it is to see the direction the waves are going - though we know from experience that it is pretty close to 90 degrees to the wave front. When your teacher drew the ray, he was mapping out the path of those childern.ĪT the time, you will have been able to see the wave fronts at right angles to that direction. Suppose you were in a helicopter above the beach.Ĭhildren on Boogie boards will show you the direction the waves are going - directly into the beach. How doesn't that imply that the oscillations are at 90 degrees to the direction of motion? How? I don´t understand that, unless we are looking at the wave from the "side", similar to the view we have of a wave in an oscilloscope, then I understand how those perpendicular lines are the crest and are therefore points in phase.ĭisplacement Time Graphs of Longitudinal Waves: When I was learning about longitudinal and transverse waves I learned how, in a transverse wave, the oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer, yet, the displacement time graph of a longitudinal wave is a sine curve. The only thing confusing me is when my teacher was explaining, he drew a light ray and lines perpendicular to that ray and he said those were the crests of the wave. ![]() I am studying waves and I am having a hard time understanding the following concepts:
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