A wave in which the particles of the medium oscillate perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation.
Shake a rope side-to-side: the wave travels along the rope, but the rope moves up and down.
Showing a random 20 of 50 problems.
Example 1
easy
Which of these is transverse: a wave on a guitar string or a sound wave in air?
Example 2
medium
A guitar string of length 0.65 m vibrates at its fundamental frequency 440 Hz. Find the wave speed.
Example 3
easy
In a transverse wave, the particle motion is ___ to the wave propagation direction.
Example 4
medium
A transverse wave travels at 30 m/s along a rope. What frequency yields a 0.5 m wavelength?
Example 5
challenge
A transverse wave reflects off a fixed end of a string. The reflected wave is inverted. If the incoming amplitude is 4 cm, what is the displacement at the fixed end when incoming and reflected waves meet there?
Example 6
easy
Transverse waves can travel through solids because solids have ___ that fluids lack.
Example 7
medium
Classify each as transverse or longitudinal: (a) a seismic S-wave (shear), (b) a wave on a trampoline surface.
Example 8
hard
A guitar string (μ=0.003 kg/m, length 0.65 m) is tuned to play a note at 330 Hz (fundamental mode). What tension must be applied to the string?
Example 9
medium
Light is a transverse electromagnetic wave with speed 3×108 m/s. A red beam has frequency 4.6×1014 Hz. Find its wavelength.
Example 10
medium
A polarizing filter blocks one transverse polarization of light. Why doesn't this work for sound waves in air?
Example 11
easy
True or false: A transverse wave carries energy but not net matter.
Example 12
medium
A transverse wave has amplitude 5 cm and angular frequency 20 rad/s. Find the maximum transverse particle speed.
Example 13
easy
Is light a transverse or longitudinal wave?
Example 14
easy
A transverse wave on a rope has a wavelength of 1.5 m and a frequency of 4 Hz. What is the wave speed? In which direction do the rope particles move relative to the wave's direction?
Example 15
medium
A transverse wave on a string moves to the right. At an instant, a point at a crest is momentarily at rest. In which direction will it next move?
Example 16
challenge
A transverse wave on a string has equation peaks every 0.25 m and the source oscillates with period 0.05 s. Find the wave speed and the particle's maximum perpendicular displacement if amplitude is 2 cm (state both).
Example 17
easy
In a transverse wave, does energy travel along the wave or perpendicular to it?
Example 18
medium
Why is the up-down speed of a string particle different from the wave's speed along the string?
Example 19
hard
A string of mass 20 g and length 4 m is under 80 N tension. Find the speed of a transverse pulse.
Example 20
easy
A transverse wave on a string has wavelength 2 m and frequency 10 Hz. Find its speed.