| A medium | A substance through which a wave can travel |
| Wavelength (ℷ) | The distance between each crest or trough |
| Amplitude (A) | The height of the wave |
| Frequency (f) | The amount of waves passing a point each second |
| When wavelength is large, frequency is... | When wavelength is large, frequency is small |
| Propagation | The direction of the wave's travel |
| When wavelength is small, frequency is... | When wavelength is small, frequency is large |
| Oscillation | The way that the wave's medium moves |
| Compressions | Crests of longitudinal waves |
| rarefactions | troughs of longitudinal waves |
| wavelength (ℷ) | The distance between crests and troughs |
| Sound is a...wave | Sound is a longitudinal wave. |
| Pitch is determined by... | frequency |
| When wavelength is small, pitch is... | When wavelength is small, pitch is high |
| Sound is a ...wave. | Sound is a longitudinal wave |
| Pitch is determined by... | Pitch is determined by frequency |
| The primary factor that determines the pitch of sound | The frequency |
| The factor which determines the volume | The amplitude |
| Relationship between pitch and speed | When pitch is high, speed is also high |
| Relationship of air temperature, and the speed of sound | When air temperature is high, the speed of sound is also high |
| Sonic waves | f = 20Hz - 20,000Hz |
| Ultrasonic waves | f > 20,000Hz; are not audible to human ear |
| Infrasonic waves | f < 20Hz; are not audible to human ear |
| The speed of light in air (c) (to two significant digits) | 3.0x10^8 m/sec |
| The medium of a light wave | Determines the speed of the wave: the denser the medium, the slower the speed of the light wave. |
| Wave interference | occurs when the crest from one wave overlaps with a trough from another wave |
| Constructive interference | occurs when the crests from one wave add to the crests from another wave; this also applies to the troughs |
| Destructive interference | occurs when two waves overlap, and cancel each other out |
| Maxwells Equations and light | Maxwells equations tell us that light is an electromagnetic wave. |
| How light waves travel | Light waves travel by oscillating electric and magnetic fields. |
| Photoelectric effect | When light is shone on a metal surface, electrons fly off the metal. These electrons are called photoelectrons. |
| Work function | The energy with which a metal holds on to its electrons. A wave can give enough energy to electrons so that they have more energy than the work function of the metal, allowing them to break free of the metal. |
