Class 11 Physics — Chapter 7: WAVES

What you'll learn

• ▸Fundamental Properties of Waves
• ▸Classification of Waves
• ▸Transverse Waves
• ▸Longitudinal Waves
• ▸Wave Propagation in Different Media
• ▸Progressive (Travelling) Waves

Chapter Summary

--- PAGE 1 --- CHAPTER FOURTEEN WAVES 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Transverse and longitudinal waves 14.3 Displacement relation in a progressive wave 14.4 The speed of a travelling wave 14.5 The principle of superposition of waves 14.6 Reflection of waves 14.7 Beats Summary Points to ponder Exercises 14.1 INTRODUCTION In the previous Chapter, we studied the motion of objects oscillating in isolation. What happens in a system, which is a collection of such objects? A material medium provides such an example. Here, elastic forces bind the constituents to each other and, therefore, the motion of one affects that of the other. If you drop a little pebble in a pond of still water, the water surface gets disturbed. The disturbance does not remain confined to one place, but propagates outward along a circle. If you continue dropping pebbles in the pond, you see circles rapidly moving outward from the point where the water surface is disturb…

Practice Questions from this Chapter

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1. Explain how waves transport energy. Get Solution →
2. Give examples of everyday waves. Get Solution →
3. Compare transverse and longitudinal waves. Get Solution →
4. What is the defining characteristic of a wave, as described in the chapter? Get Solution →
5. According to the text, what two things do waves primarily transport? Get Solution →
6. Which type of wave, like a sound wave or a wave on a string, requires a material medium for its propagation? Get Solution →
7. In a transverse wave, how do the constituents of the medium oscillate relative to the direction of wave propagation? Get Solution →
8. In a longitudinal wave, how do the constituents of the medium oscillate relative to the direction of wave propagation? Get Solution →

Did you know?

• 💡 Light from distant stars travels across vast empty space to reach us.
• 💡 Sound cannot travel in the vacuum of space, only through a medium.
• 💡 Earthquakes generate powerful waves that ripple through Earth's crust.
• 💡 Bats navigate using echolocation, sending out sound waves to find objects.
• 💡 Some plants move their leaves in wave-like patterns to deter insects.

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