Waves and Information Transfer

Waves and Information Transfer — page 1
WAVES in MOTION When you think of waves you probably think of waves that surfers ride in the ocean But water waves are just one type of wave Light waves create the colors you see with your eyes Sound waves make the sounds you hear with your ears Waves are vibrations or disturbances that travel through a medium or an empty space They transfer or move energy from one place to another in regular patterns HOW ARE WAVES MADE Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass Mass is the amount of material in an object Orange juice your television and the air around you are all forms of matter When a force is applied to matter it vibrates This changes the matter from its rest position by making it move up and down or side to side This creates waves Waves carry energy from the force They travel away from the source in the form of a wave The matter returns to its original position once the energy passes through it When the waves run out of energy they stop