Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each wave into Transverse or Longitudinal.
Groups: Transverse · Longitudinal
- Seismic P-waves
- Sound in water
- Waves on a rope
- Compression pulse in a spring
- Radio waves
- Seismic S-waves
Hints
- Ask whether the disturbance shears the medium or compresses it.
- Anything travelling through vacuum has to be transverse.
Show the answer
Transverse: Radio waves, Seismic S-waves, Waves on a rope
Longitudinal: Sound in water, Seismic P-waves, Compression pulse in a spring
Why
EM waves and shear waves are transverse; pressure/compression waves are longitudinal.
Practise Wave Properties and the Wave Equation
The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Physics I is free to start.
More questions on Wave Properties and the Wave Equation
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