explain why longitudinal waves cannot travel in space course hero

by Efren Rempel 7 min read

What is the E T of a longitudinal wave?

This is the reason why you can not hear sound in space . Gizmo Warm-up No sounds can be heard in outer space because sound waves require a medium , such as air, to travel through. Sound waves are examples of longitudinal waves (also known as compression waves), or waves in which particles move back and forth in the same direction as the wave.

What is the velocity of longitudinal wave in a gas?

Longitudinal waves can not travel in space because it needs a medium . There are not enough particles in the vacuum of space to cause the vibrations necessary to transmit sound . Suppose you are an astronomer, and a child asks you to explain the …

Why can't sound waves travel in a vacuum?

Gizmo Warm-up No sounds can be heard in outer space because sound waves require a medium, such as air, to travel through. Sound waves are examples of longitudinal waves, or waves in which particles move back and forth in the same direction as the wave. You can use the Longitudinal Waves Gizmo to explore the behavior of sound waves.

Do sound waves slow down as they travel through a medium?

Mar 17, 2021 · Select Continuous waves. Check that the Strength is 1.00 and Freq. is 30 Hz. Introduction: When you strike a tuning fork on a hard surface, the tines of the fork start to vibrate back and forth at a certain frequency, or number of cycles per second.This motion causes nearby molecules to move back and forth, creating sound waves. The greater the frequency of the …

Why can longitudinal waves not travel in space?

Longitudinal electromagnetic waves do not exist in vacuum because the Divergence of E, and B are zero. The consequence of this is that the k-vector, propagation direction, is orthogonal to E and B.May 31, 2016

What can longitudinal waves not do?

The particles of the medium vibrate about their fixed mean position in a plane perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. They move more slowly than P-waves and cannot travel through the outer core because they cannot exist in fluids, e.g., air, water, and molten rock (Fig.

Why do you think a longitudinal wave is also called a pressure wave?

The longitudinal waves are called pressure waves because propagation of longitudinal waves through a medium involves changes in pressure and volume of air, when compression and rarefaction are formed.

What happens to air as a sound wave passes through it?

If a sound wave is moving from left to right through air, then particles of air will be displaced both rightward and leftward as the energy of the sound wave passes through it. The motion of the particles is parallel (and anti-parallel) to the direction of the energy transport.

What can longitudinal waves travel through?

Traveling Through Solids, Liquids and Gases While a longitudinal wave can travel through solids, liquids and gases, transverse waves can only travel through solids.Aug 24, 2021

How do longitudinal waves travel?

Sound waves are longitudinal waves . They cause particles to vibrate parallel to the direction of wave travel. The vibrations can travel through solids, liquids or gases. The speed of sound depends on the medium through which it is travelling.

Where sound waves Cannot travel?

The correct answer is Vacuum. Sound vibration must travel through matter. Sound cannot travel through a vacuum. A vacuum is an area without any air, like space.

Why are transverse waves not produced in liquids and gases?

Transverse waves travel in the form of crests and troughs involving a change in the shape of the medium. As liquids and gases do not possess the elasticity of shape, therefore, transverse waves cannot be produced in liquid and gases.

What's the difference between longitudinal waves and transverse waves?

Transverse waves are always characterized by particle motion being perpendicular to wave motion. A longitudinal wave is a wave in which particles of the medium move in a direction parallel to the direction that the wave moves.

Why are longitudinal waves called sound waves?

In longitudinal waves, particles of wave move in direction of propagation of waves. In a sound wave, the particles of the medium vibrate back and forth in the same direction of the disturbance. Therefore, sound wave is called a longitudinal wave.Jun 26, 2019

Does sound travel in longitudinal or transverse waves?

longitudinal wavesSound waves in air (and any fluid medium) are longitudinal waves because particles of the medium through which the sound is transported vibrate parallel to the direction that the sound wave moves.

Is it possible to have a longitudinal wave on a stretched string Why or why not?

No, it is not possible to produce to longitudinal wave in stretched string. That is because it is almost impossible to compress the string along its length. It will bend and produce the transverse wave.

What are the crests and troughs of electromagnetic waves?

Electromagnetic waves have crests and troughs similar to those of ocean waves. The distance between crests is the wavelength. The shortest wavelengths are just fractions of the size of an atom, while the longest wavelengths scientists currently study can be larger than the diameter of our planet!

What did Hertz prove about radio waves?

This proved that radio waves were a form of light! Second, Hertz found out how to make the electric and magnetic fields detach themselves from wires and go free as Maxwell's waves — electromagnetic waves.

How do electromagnetic waves travel?

This means that electromagnetic waves can travel not only through air and solid materials, but also through the vacuum of space. In the 1860's and 1870's, a Scottish scientist named James Clerk ...

What is the unit of frequency of a radio wave?

The unit of frequency of a radio wave -- one cycle per second -- is named the hertz, in honor of Heinrich Hertz. His experiment with radio waves solved two problems. First, he had demonstrated in the concrete, what Maxwell had only theorized — that the velocity of radio waves was equal to the velocity of light!

How do waves transfer energy?

Classical waves transfer energy without transporting matter through the medium. Waves in a pond do not carry the water molecules from place to place; rather the wave's energy travels through the water, leaving the water molecules in place, much like a bug bobbing on top of ripples in water.

What is the wave-like property of light?

An instrument that diffracts light into a spectrum for analysis is an example of observing the wave-like property of light. The particle-like nature of light is observed by detectors used in digital cameras—individual photons liberate electrons that are used for the detection and storage of the image data.

What is electromagnetic energy?

This energy can be described by frequency, wavelength, or energy. All three are related mathematically such that if you know one, you can calculate the other two.

What is the nature of waves?

Nature of Waves. (i) Transverse waves A wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate at right angles to the direction of propagation of wave, is called a transverse wave. These waves travel in the form of crests and troughs. (ii) Longitudinal waves A wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate in the same direction in which wave is ...

What are the most important waves in our everyday lives?

Sound Waves. Sound waves of all the mechanical waves that occur in nature, the most important in our everyday lives are longitudinal waves in a medium, usually air, called sound waves.

How are nodes and antinodes obtained?

Nodes and antinodes are obtained alternatively in a stationary waves. At nodes, the displacement of the particles remains minimum, strain is maximum,pressure and density variations are maximum. At antinodes, the displacement of the particles remains maximum, strain is minimum, pressure and density variations are minimum.

What happens when wind blows with a velocity w?

If wind is also blowing with a velocity w in the direction of sound, then its velocity is added to the velocity of sound. Hence, in this condition the apparent frequency is givenby

When two sound waves of nearly equal frequencies are produced simultaneously, then intensity of the resultant sound produced by their superposition

When two sound waves of nearly equal frequencies are produced simultaneously, then intensity of the resultant sound produced by their superposition increases and decreases alternately with time. This rise and fall intensity of sound is called beats.

What is the principle of superposition?

Therefore, resultant displacement of each particle of the medium at any instant is equal to vector sum of the displacements produced by two waves separately. This principle is called principle of superposition.

What are electromagnetic waves?

Electromagnetic Waves Those waves which do not require a material medium for their propagation, are called electromagnetic waves, e.g., light waves, radio waves etc. Matter Waves These waves are commonly used in modern technology but they are unfamiliar to us.

How do light waves and sound waves differ?

Light waves carry energy parallel to the motion of the wave, while sound waves carry energy perpendicular to it. Sound waves carry energy parallel to the motion of the wave, while light waves carry energy perpendicular to it. Complete the passage.

How is sound produced?

A sound wave is produced when an object vibrates: Energy from the object is transferred to particles around the vibrating object: 3. 4. 1. 2. Compression. the part of a wave where the particles of the medium are closer together. Wavelength.

How does a very good conductor reflect an electromagnetic wave falling on it?

The time-varying electric field of the incoming wave drives an oscillating current on the surface of the conductor, following Ohm's law. That oscillating current sheet, of necessity, must generate waves propagating in both directions from the sheet. One of these waves is the reflected wave. The other wave cancels out the incoming wave inside the conductor. Let us make this qualitative description quantitative.

How are electromagnetic waves produced?

Electromagnetic waves are produced when electric charges are accelerated. In other words, a charge must radiate energy when it undergoes acceleration. Radiation cannot be produced by stationary charges or steady currents. Figure 13.8.1 depicts the electric field lines produced by an oscillating charge at some instant.

How does a coaxial cable work?

The battery provides an electromotive force εbetween the two conductors at one end of the cable, and the load is a resistanceR connected between the two conductors at the other end of the cable. A current I flows down the inner conductor and back up the outer one. The battery charges the inner conductor to a charge −Q and the outer conductor to a charge +Q.

How is a spaceship propelled in the solar system?

It has been proposed that a spaceship might be propelled in the solar system by radiation pressure, using a large sail made of foil. How large must the sail be if the radiation force is to be equal in magnitude to the Sun's gravitational attraction? Assume that the mass of the ship and sail is 1650 kg, that the sail is perfectly reflecting, and that the sail is oriented at right angles to the Sun’s rays. Does your answer depend on where in the solar system the spaceship is located?

What is Gauss' law?

We have seen that Gauss’s law for electrostatics states that the electric flux through a closed surface is proportional to the charge enclosed (Figure 13.2.1a). The electric field lines originate from the positive charge (source) and terminate at the negative charge (sink). One would then be tempted to write down the magnetic equivalent as

Do electromagnetic waves propagate in empty space?

We have seen that electromagnetic plane waves propagate in empty space at the speed of light. Below we demonstrate how one would create such waves in a particularly simple planar geometry. Although physically this is not particularly applicable to the real world, it is reasonably easy to treat, and we can see directly how electromagnetic plane waves are generated, why it takes work to make them, and how much energy they carry away with them.

Does an electromagnetic wave have energy?

The electromagnetic wave transports not only energy but also momentum , and hence can exert a radiation pressure on a surface due to the absorption and reflection of the momentum. Maxwell showed that if the plane electromagnetic wave is completely absorbed by a surface, the momentum transferred is related to the energy absorbed by