DEFINITIONS AND CONCEPTS IN IGCSE

WAVES
LONGITUDINAL WAVE: Wave where the oscillation is parallel to the
direction in which the energy travels.

TRANSVERSE WAVES: Wave where the oscillation is perpendicular to

the direction in which the energy travels.

DISPLACEMENT: The distance of a particle in the wave from the rest

position.

AMPLITUDE: The maximum displacement of a particle.

FREQUENCY (f): The number of oscillations in one second.

TIME PERIOD (T): The time taken for one oscillation.

1
frequency
timeperiod
1
f
T

WAVELENGTH (): The distance along the wave from one particle to
the next particle making an identical oscillation.

WAVESPEED: The speed with which the energy of the wave travels.

v=f

DIFFRACTION: The way waves can spread out after passing an object
or opening with a size similar to the wavelength of the wave.
ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM: The range of electromagnetic
waves ordered by frequency and wavelength. Includes light, heat,
radio, gamma rays, microwaves, X-rays

SPEED OF LIGHT: 300 million metres per second. The fastest means
of communication.

REFLECTION: Where a wave bounces of a surface. The angle of

incidence equals the angle of reflection

REFRACTION: Where a wave changes direction when it passes from

one medium to another.

REFRACTIVE INDEX: A constant which tells how much a medium

refracts (how optically dense it is).
sini
n , where i and r are angles of incidence and refraction
sin r
respectively.

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TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION: This happens inside a more optically
dense material where all of a wave reflects from a surface and none
is transmitted.

CRITICAL ANGLE: The incident angle when the angle of refraction is

90.

DIGITAL SIGNAL: A signal which can be represented as a series of 1s

and 0s. It can be perfectly copied.

ANALOGUE SIGNAL: A continuously varying signal. It degrades as it

is copied.

OSCILLOSCOPE: Apparatus which represents oscillations by a trace

on a screen.

PITCH AND LOUDNESS: Properties of a sound wave analogous with

frequency and amplitude.

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