wave

Also known as waves

thumb|Surface waves in water showing water ripples

AI overview

A wave is a disturbance that travels through a material or space, like the ripples you see moving across the surface of water. Waves are important because they're how energy moves from one place to another, and they appear everywhere in nature—in water, sound, light, and many other forms.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

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Commons category: Waves
Commons gallery: Wave
Stack Exchange tag: engineering.stackexchange.com/tags/waves

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~42 min read

Article

59 sections

Contents

Definition
Mathematical description
Single waves
Superposition
Wave spectrum
Wave families
Differential wave equations
Wave in elastic medium
Wave forms
Amplitude and modulation
Phase velocity and group velocity
Special waves
Sine waves
Plane waves
Standing waves
Solitary waves
Physical properties
Propagation
Reflection of plane waves in a half-space
SV wave propagation
P wave propagation
Wave velocity
Transmission and media
Absorption
Reflection
Refraction
Diffraction
Interference
Polarization
Dispersion
Doppler effect
Mechanical waves
Waves on strings
Acoustic waves
Gravity waves
Body waves
Seismic waves
Shock waves
Shear waves
Gravitational waves
Other
Electromagnetic waves
Quantum mechanical waves
Schrödinger equation
Dirac equation
de Broglie waves
See also
Waves in general
Parameters
Waveforms
Electromagnetic waves
In fluids
In quantum mechanics
In relativity
Other specific types of waves
Related topics
References
Sources
External links

thumb|Surface waves in water showing water ripples

In mathematics and physical science, 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, it is said to be a travelling wave; by contrast, a pair of superimposed periodic waves traveling in opposite directions makes a standing wave. In a standing wave, the amplitude of vibration has nulls at some positions where the wave amplitude appears smaller or even zero.