Slinky Speedway: Does a Bigger Wave Travel Faster?
Science Lab · Grade 7
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Type
science_lab
Pre Lab
Background: A **wave** is a disturbance that carries **energy** from one place to another without carrying the material along with it. When you flick one end of a stretched slinky, the coils move a little and then return to where they started, but the disturbance travels all the way to the other end. Scientists often use a slinky as a **model**, which is a simpler object that helps us understand something harder to see, like sound waves or waves on a guitar string.
There are two main kinds of mechanical waves. In a **transverse wave**, the coils move side to side, at right angles to the direction the wave travels. The highest point is the **crest** and the lowest point is the **trough**. In a **longitudinal wave**, also called a **compression wave**, the coils move back and forth in the same direction the wave travels. Areas where coils bunch together are **compressions**, and areas where they spread apart are **rarefactions**. Sound is a longitudinal wave.
Waves can be described with measurements. **Amplitude** is how far the coils move from their resting position, which shows how big the wave is. **Wavelength** is the distance from one crest to the next crest, or from one compression to the next. **Frequency** is how many waves pass a point each second. **Wave speed** is how fast the disturbance travels, found with speed = distance ÷ time. A bigger amplitude means the wave carries more **energy**. In this lab you will find out whether bigger, more energetic waves also travel faster.
Vocabulary
Term: Transverse wave
Definition: A wave in which the material moves at right angles (perpendicular) to the direction the wave travels.
Term: Longitudinal wave
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