What are Longitudinal waves?

Longitudinal waves are waves that have the same direction of oscillation or vibration along their direction of travel, which means that the oscillation of the medium (particle) is in the same direction or opposite direction as the motion of the wave. Mechanical longitudinal waves have been also referred to as compressional waves or compression waves.

What are Longitudinal Waves?


They are Mechanical Waves which propagate through a material medium (solid, liquid, or gas) at a wave speed which depends on the elastic and inertial properties of that medium. There are two basic types of wave motion for mechanical waves: longitudinal waves and transverse waves. The animations below demonstrate both types of wave and illustrate the difference between the motion of the wave and the motion of the particles in the medium through which the wave is traveling.

Transverse waves:

A transverse wave is a moving wave that consists of oscillations occurring perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer.

Water Waves:

Rayleigh waves are a type of surface acoustic wave that travels on solids. They are produced on the Earth by earthquakes, in which case they are also known as "ground roll", or by other sources of seismic energy such as an explosion or even a sledgehammer impact. They can also be produced in materials by many mechanisms, including by piezo-electric transducers, and are frequently used in non-destructive testing for detecting defects. When guided in layers they are referred to as Lamb waves, Rayleigh–Lamb waves, or generalized Rayleigh waves.

Sound waves:

Sound waves exist as variations of pressure in a medium such as air. They are created by the vibration of an object, which causes the air surrounding it to vibrate. The vibrating air then causes the human eardrum to vibrate, which the brain interprets as sound.


For animations on Longitudinal and Transverse Waves please go to this website,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rbuhdo0AZDU

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