Nomenclature
A wave is a phenomenon in which a physical quantity varies periodically in time and space
| Property | Definition | Diagram / Formula | Notes | |
| Frequency | The number of oscillations completed by one bit of the medium in one second | f = 1/T
T = 1/f |
As the frequency increases | |
| the pitch of sound becomes squeakier | the colour of light becomes more blue | |||
| Period | The time it takes one bit of the medium to complete one oscillation | |||
| Wavelength | The distance between two successive crests, troughs or any other corresponding bits of the medium | As the wavelength increases | ||
| the pitch of sound becomes lower | the colour of light becomes more red | |||
| Amplitude | Half the 'height' of the wave: i.e. the maximum change in the value of the varying quantity away from its normal no-wave value. | As the amplitude increases | ||
| the volume of sound becomes louder | the intensity of light becomes brighter | |||
| Speed | The speed of a crest through the medium. | v = f l | The medium itself only oscillates. It does not move from A to B. Only the pattern does that, along with the energy that the wave is transporting. | |
| Transverse | When the oscillations are perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is travelling - i.e. side-to-side or up-and-down oscillations. | e.g. Light, sea, ripple tank, rope | ||
| Longitudinal | When the oscillations are backwards and forwards along to the direction in which the wave is travelling. | e.g. Sound (I can't think of any other examples) | ||