wave motion

wave motion, propagation of disturbances—that is, deviations from a state of rest or equilibrium—from place to place in a regular and organized way. Most familiar are surface waves on water, but both sound and light travel as wavelike disturbances, and the motion of all subatomic particles exhibits wavelike properties. The study of waves therefore forms a topic of central importance in all physical science and engineering.

The simplest types of wave motion are vibrations of elastic media, such as air, crystalline solids, or stretched strings. If, for example, the surface of a metal block is struck a sharp blow, the deformation of the surface material compresses the metal in the vicinity of the surface, and this transmits the disturbance to the layers beneath. The surface relaxes back to its initial configuration, and the compression propagates on into the body of the material at a speed determined by the stiffness of the material. This is an example of a compression wave. The steady transmission of a localized disturbance through an elastic medium is common to many forms of wave motion.

In most systems of interest, two or more disturbances of small amplitude may be superimposed without modifying one another. Conversely, a complicated disturbance may be analyzed into several simple components. In radio transmission, for example, a high-frequency signal can be superimposed on a low-frequency carrier wave and then filtered out intact on reception.

In the simplest waves, the disturbance oscillates periodically with a fixed frequency and wavelength. These sinusoidal oscillations form the basis for the study of almost all forms of linear wave motion. In sound, for instance, a single sine wave produces a pure tone, and the distinctive timbre of different musical instruments playing the same note results from the admixture of sine waves of different frequencies. In electronics, the natural rhythmic oscillations of electric currents in tuned circuits are used to produce sinusoidal radio waves.

Although the mathematical properties of all linear waves are common, the waves exhibit various physical manifestations. One important class—electromagnetic waves—represents oscillations of the electromagnetic field. These include infrared radiation, visible light, radio and television, microwave, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. Electromagnetic waves are produced by moving electric charges and varying currents, and they can travel through a vacuum. Unlike sound waves, they are not, therefore, disturbances in any medium. Another difference between electromagnetic and sound waves is that the former are transverse, that is, the disturbance occurs in a direction perpendicular to that in which the wave is propagating. Sound waves are longitudinal: they vibrate along the path of their propagation.

The propagation of a wave through a medium will depend on the properties of the medium. For example, waves of different frequencies may travel at different speeds, an effect known as dispersion. In the case of light, dispersion leads to the unscrambling of colours and is the mechanism whereby a prism of glass can produce a spectrum. In geophysics, the dispersive propagation of seismic waves can provide information about the constitution of Earth’s interior.

Two important characteristics of all waves are the phenomena of diffraction and interference. When a wave disturbance is directed toward a small aperture in a screen or other obstacle, it emerges traveling in a range of directions. Thus, light rays, which normally follow straight paths, can bend upon passing through a small hole: this is the phenomenon known as diffraction.

Interference occurs when two waves are combined and the disturbances overlap. If the waves arrive at a point in phase, enhancement occurs and the disturbance is large. Where the waves are out of phase, their opposing motions cancel and the disturbance is small or nonexistent. The net effect is therefore a distinctive interference pattern of large and small disturbances.

Mathematically less tractable is the study of nonlinear waves, which can be very important in many applications. These usually display a more complicated structure and behaviour; for example, water waves in a shallow channel can develop a humplike formation known as a soliton, which propagates as a coherent entity. Nonlinear waves are important in systems as diverse as nerve networks and the spiral arms of galaxies.