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A diagram of the electromagnetic spectrum, showing various properties across the range of frequencies and wavelengths. The electromagnetic spectrum is the full range of electromagnetic radiation, organized by frequency or wavelength. The spectrum is divided into separate bands, with different names for the electromagnetic waves within each band.
Matter waves are a central part of the theory of quantum mechanics, being half of wave–particle duality. At all scales where measurements have been practical, matter exhibits wave -like behavior. For example, a beam of electrons can be diffracted just like a beam of light or a water wave.
In seismology, shear waves are also called secondary waves or S-waves. Transverse waves are contrasted with longitudinal waves , where the oscillations occur in the direction of the wave. The standard example of a longitudinal wave is a sound wave or "pressure wave" in gases, liquids, or solids, whose oscillations cause compression and ...
[1] [2] Soon the term referred to a plot of light intensity or power as a function of frequency or wavelength, also known as a spectral density plot. Later it expanded to apply to other waves, such as sound waves and sea waves that could also be measured as a function of frequency (e.g., noise spectrum, sea wave spectrum).
The phase velocity is the rate at which the phase of the wave propagates in space. The group velocity is the rate at which the wave envelope, i.e. the changes in amplitude, propagates. The wave envelope is the profile of the wave amplitudes; all transverse displacements are bound by the envelope profile.
In a wave packet, the wavelength of the particle is not precise, and the local wavelength deviates on either side of the main wavelength value. In representing the wave function of a localized particle, the wave packet is often taken to have a Gaussian shape and is called a Gaussian wave packet.
The wavelength of a sine wave, λ, can be measured between any two points with the same phase, such as between crests (on top), or troughs (on bottom), or corresponding zero crossings as shown. In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
Rayleigh waves have energy losses only in two dimensions and are hence more destructive in earthquakes than conventional bulk waves, such as P-waves and S-waves, which lose energy in all three directions. A Love wave is a surface wave having horizontal waves that are shear or transverse to the direction of propagation.