In a wave, the material on which the wave is travelling is moving. However, the material itself does not move along with the wave. Consider the transverse wave on a slinky. Any given part of the ...
What is a wave? Most of us think of the waves we see at the beach. The waves come in from out in the ocean and crash against the shore. If we consider how the water is actually moving in a wave ...
Seeing, hearing, feeling warmth, surfing, tuning the radio, using a cellphone – these and many more activities involve waves. But what is a wave? In this article, we get to grips with the ...
Refraction is the bending of light (it also happens with sound, water and other waves) as it passes from one transparent substance into another. This bending by refraction makes it possible for ...
Light is made up of wavelengths of light, and each wavelength is a particular colour. The colour we see is a result of which wavelengths are reflected back to our eyes. Visible light Visible ...
Reflection is when light bounces off an object. If the surface is smooth and shiny, like glass, water or polished metal, the light will reflect at the same angle as it hit the surface. This is ...
‘Wave’ is a common term for a number of different ways in which energy is transferred: In electromagnetic waves, energy is transferred through vibrations of electric and magnetic fields. In sound ...
Sound is a pressure wave caused when something vibrates, making particles bump into each other and then apart. The particles vibrate back and forth in the direction that the wave travels but do ...
Water can exist as a solid (ice), liquid (water) or gas (vapour or gas). Adding heat can cause ice (a solid) to melt to form water (a liquid). Removing heat causes water (a liquid) to freeze to ...
This interactive looks at the electromagnetic spectrum. To use this interactive, move your mouse or finger over any of the labelled boxes and select to obtain more information. Select here for a ...
The human eye is a sense organ adapted to allow vision by reacting to light. The cornea and the crystalline lens are both important for the eye to focus light. The eye focuses light in a similar ...
Light is a form of energy produced by a light source. Light is made of photons that travel very fast. Photons of light behave like both waves and particles. Light sources Something that produces ...
All waves behave in certain characteristic ways. They can undergo refraction, reflection, interference and diffraction. These basic properties define the behaviour of a wave – anything that ...
Sound is a pressure wave, but this wave behaves slightly differently through air as compared to water. Water is denser than air, so it takes more energy to generate a wave, but once a wave has ...
Sound waves are longitudinal or compression waves that transmit sound energy from the source of the sound to an observer. Sound waves are typically drawn as transverse waves, with the peaks and ...
The universe is full of amazing things, but we need help to see most of them. There are many types of light that our eyes cannot see, so we use instruments, such as telescopes, that can detect ...
Sound is a form of energy that is caused by the vibration of matter. Sound is transmitted through waves, which travel through solids, liquids and gases. We are most used to the sound travelling ...
Seeing with two eyes helps people to judge distances and to see in 3D, but even using one eye, there are many clues (often referred to as visual cues) to give people depth perception. Depth ...
This timeline provides a look at some of the key advances in ideas about light, how we see and how we perceive the world around us. 400 BC – Emission theory of vision Greek philosopher and ...
Are you looking for ways to teach forces? If you’re new to the Science Learning Hub, you may want to start with our introductory video on teaching physics. Help, I’m teaching physics Discover ...
Professor Denis Sullivan studies white dwarfs – small and dense stars that are cooling down after being red giants. Our Sun, and most other stars, will eventually become a white dwarf. The life ...
Distances in space are really, really big. The Voyager 1 spacecraft is heading out of our Solar System at 62,000 km per hour, but even at that speed, it would take it 77,000 years to reach the ...
The video shows a hand making longitudinal and transverse waves on a slinky. The audio describes longitudinal and transverse wave characteristics.
Many of us imagine tsunamis as tall, surf-like waves, but in the deep ocean, their amplitude is actually quite small. Tsunamis get much taller as they approach the continental shelf and ...
