What is a wave? - an oscillation which transfers energy by making the particles of the medium it travels through oscillate. No matter is transported, transferred or moved, just the energy of the oscillation. When we think of waves, especially in physics, we defer to the "sine" wave, a favourite of many science fiction writers.


This is indeed one form of wave, known as a "transverse wave". Another wave is the "Longitudinal Wave" or as it was once referred to, the "Compression Wave". In the following sections we will look at the different types of wave, some of their properties and dependencies.