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The wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields such as mechanical waves (e.g. water waves, sound waves and seismic waves) or electromagnetic waves (including light waves). It arises in fields like acoustics, electromagnetism, and fluid dynamics.
Wave. Surface waves in water showing water ripples. In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Periodic waves oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (resting) value at some frequency. When the entire waveform moves in one direction ...
Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio signals ( sound ), radio waves, and light . For example, if a heart beats at a frequency of 120 times per minute (2 hertz), the period—the interval between beats—is half a ...
The shockwave from the Chelyabinsk meteor that rocketed across the Russian morning sky on 15 February 2013. In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave ), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through ...
c is the speed of the wave; and; ω is the angular frequency of the wave. The quantity x/c is the time that the wave takes to travel the distance x. The ordinary frequency (f) of the wave is given by =. The wavelength can be calculated as the relation between a wave's speed and ordinary frequency.
In physics, the wavefront of a time-varying wave field is the set ( locus) of all points having the same phase. [ 1] The term is generally meaningful only for fields that, at each point, vary sinusoidally in time with a single temporal frequency (otherwise the phase is not well defined). Wavefronts usually move with time.
Speed: This is the speed at which a point on the wave (for example, a point of maximum stretch or squeeze) travels. For gravitational waves with small amplitudes, this wave speed is equal to the speed of light (c). The speed, wavelength, and frequency of a gravitational wave are related by the equation c = λf, just like the equation for a ...
Rayleigh waves are distinct from other types of surface or guided acoustic waves such as Love waves or Lamb waves, both being types of guided waves supported by a layer, or longitudinal and shear waves, that travel in the bulk. Rayleigh waves have a speed slightly less than shear waves by a factor dependent on the elastic constants of the ...