Natural Foundations for

Information Technology
(SOFE 2850U)

Lecture 4: Waves

Fall 2021
Dr. Sanaa Alwidian
 Learning Objectives

By the End of this chapter, you will learn:

 The basic concept of waves

 Types of waves

 The basic properties of travelling waves.

 Why waves are important

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 Overview
 Waves are everywhere.
 A few examples of our daily encounters with waves:
 Sound waves, visible light waves, radio waves, microwaves,
water waves, stadium waves, earthquake waves, waves on a
string, and slinky waves.

 We study the physics of waves because it provides a rich

indication into the physical world that we seek to understand
and describe.

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 Why Waves are Important?

 Waves are literally everywhere. Waves are present in the

oceans, the atmosphere, and the earth.
 Communications systems from radios to cell phones to fiber
optics use waves.
 Sonar and radar and medical ultrasound use waves.

 Music and musical instruments are all about waves.

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 What is a Wave
 A wave is a disturbance travelling through a medium ( and

transferring energy) from one location to another.

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 What is a Wave (cont.)
 A wave is a disturbance travelling through a medium

 Disturbance: The act of creating the wave

 E.g.,moving the first coil of the slinky in a given direction and
then returning it to its rest position creates a disturbance in the
slinky.

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 What is a Wave (cont.)
 A wave is a disturbance travelling through a medium

 Disturbance: The act of creating the wave

 E.g., the act of throwing a stone in a water creates a
disturbance in the water pond.

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 What is a Wave (cont.)
 A wave is a disturbance travelling through a medium

 Medium
 Analogy: The news (or social) media is merely the thing that
carries the news from its source to various locations.
 Similarly, a wave medium is the substance that carries a wave (or
disturbance) from one location to another.
 The wave medium is not the wave itself, and it doesn't make the
wave.
 It merely carries or transports the wave from its source to other
locations.

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Types of Waves

Based on
medium

Mechanical

Electromagnetic

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 Types of Waves
 Mechanical waves are waves that require a medium.
 Should have some sort of matter to travel through.
 These waves travel when molecules in the medium collide with each
other passing on energy.
 One example of a mechanical wave is sound. It needs the medium to
help it travel
 Sound can travel through air, water, or solids, but it can't travel through
a vacuum.
 Other examples include water waves, seismic waves, and waves
traveling through a spring.

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 Types of Waves (cont.)
 Electromagnetic waves: waves that can travel through a
vacuum (empty space).
 They don't need a medium or matter.
 They travel through electrical and magnetic fields that are
generated by charged particles.
 Examples of electromagnetic waves include light, microwaves,
radio waves, and X-rays.

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The Electromagnetic Spectrum

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Types of Waves

Based on
Direction

Transversal

Longitudinal

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 The Displacement
 In “the wave” at a sporting event,
the wave moves around the
stadium, but the particles (people)
undergo small displacements from
their equilibrium positions.

 When describing a wave mathematically, we’ll use the generic symbol

D to stand for the displacement of a wave of any type.
 D(x, t) = the displacement at time t of a particle at position x.

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 Types of Waves
 A Transverse wave : the displacement is perpendicular to the

direction of the travel (and energy)

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 Types of Waves
 A Transverse wave : the displacement is perpendicular to the

direction of the travel

Crest

Trough

 The highest point is called “Crest,” and the lowest point is

called “Trough.”

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Examples of Transverse Waves

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 Types of Waves
 A Longitudinal wave: the displacement is parallel to the

direction of travel

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 Brainstorming Question
 A transverse wave is transporting energy from east to west. The

particles of the medium will move:

A. East to west only

B. Both eastward and westward

C. North to south only

D. Both northward and southward

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 Brainstorming Question
 A transverse wave is transporting energy from east to west. The

particles of the medium will move:

A. East to west only

B. Both eastward and westward

C. North to south only

D. Both northward and southward

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 Properties of Waves
 A wave is characterized by
 Wavelength (λ , pronounced lambda) : The distance between two
neighboring crests (measured in meters)
 Amplitude: The maximum displacement (measured in meters)

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 Properties of Waves (cont.)
 A wave is characterized by:
 Frequency (f): The number of oscillations per second (measured
in hertz – Hz).
 Wave speed (v): is the speed (velocity) at which a wave is
travelling through the medium. (measured in meters per second –
m/s)

 The formula for calculating wave speed (v) is:

 Wave Speed (v)= Wavelength (λ) ×Frequency (f)

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 Sinusoidal Waves

 The distance spanned by one cycle of

the motion is called the wavelength λ
 During a time interval of exactly one
period T, each crest of a sinusoidal wave
travels forward a distance of exactly one
wavelength λ.
 Because speed is distance divided by
time, the wave speed must be

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 Brainstorming Question
 The period of this wave is

A. 1s
B. 2s
C. 4s
D. Not enough information to tell.

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 Brainstorming Question
 The period of this wave is

A. 1s
B. 2s
C. 4s
D. Not enough information to tell.

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 Brainstorming Question
 A wave at sea travels with a velocity of 25m/s. If it has a
wavelength of 10m, what is its frequency?

A. 2.3 Hz

B. 2.4 Hz

C. 2.5 Hz

D. 2.5 Hz

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 Brainstorming Question
 A wave at sea travels with a velocity of 25m/s. If it has a

wavelength of 10m, what is its frequency?

 Solution:
Wave Speed (v)= Wavelength (λ) ×Frequency (f)
 f=v/ λ

f = 25/10
F =2.5 Hz

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 Brainstorming Question
 Lizzy reads the back label of her microwave oven. It says
frequency = 2,450MHz. If the speed of microwaves is 3.00 x
108 m/s, what wavelength are they?

A. 1000 m

B. 12200 m

C. 0.122m

D. 12.2 m

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 Brainstorming Question
 Lizzy reads the back label of her microwave oven. It says
frequency = 2,450MHz. If the speed of microwaves is 3.00 x
108 m/s, what wavelength are they?
 Solution:
 The first thing you must do to answer this question is
convert the frequency to the standard units, which means
converting from MHz to Hz (1 MHz = 106 Hz). So 2,450
MHz = 2,450 x 106 Hz.
 Wave Speed (v)= Wavelength (λ) ×Frequency (f)
  Wavelength= v/f
 = 3.00 x 108/ 2,450 x 106
 = 0.122m

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 Exercise 1
 An electromagnetic wave travels at a speed of 300,000,000 m/s
and has a wavelength of 15cm. Calculate the frequency of the
electromagnetic wave.

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 Exercise 2
 A TV station broadcasts at 500,000 kHz. The waves travel
through the air at 300,000,000 m/s. Calculate the wavelength of
the waves broadcast by this station.

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 Waves and Energy

 Waves are said to be an energy transport phenomenon.

 As a disturbance moves through a medium from one particle to

its adjacent particle, energy is being transported from one end
of the medium to the other.
 In a slinky wave, a person imparts energy to the first coil by
doing work upon it.
 The first coil receives a large amount of energy that it subsequently
transfers to the second coil.
 When the first coil returns to its original position, it possesses the same
amount of energy as it had before it was displaced.
 ..and the process is repeated with the third coil, and so on

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 Waves and Energy

 The rate at which a wave delivers energy to a surface is called:

the intensity of the wave.
 For sound waves, a logarithmic decibel scale is used to
characterize the intensity (or loudness) of a sound

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 Brainstorming Question
• A wave on a string is traveling to the
right. At this instant, the motion of
the piece of string marked with a dot
is ________.

A. Up.
B. Down.
C. Right.
D. Left.
E. Zero. Instantaneously at rest.

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 Brainstorming Question
• A wave on a string is traveling to the
right. At this instant, the motion of
the piece of string marked with a dot
is ________.

A. Up.
B. Down.
C. Right.
D. Left.
E. Zero. Instantaneously at rest.

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 Brainstorming Question
• The period of this wave is

A. 1s
B. 2s
C. 4s
D. Not enough information to tell.

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 Brainstorming Question
• The period of this wave is

A. 1s
B. 2s
C. 4s
D. Not enough information to tell.

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Sound and Light

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Sound vs. Light

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 Sound Waves
 A sound wave in a fluid is a
sequence of compressions and
rarefactions.
 The variation in density and the
amount of motion have been
greatly exaggerated in this figure.
 The periodic compressions and
rarefactions travel outward from
the loudspeaker a longitudinal
sound wave.
 This oscillating pressure cause
the eardrum to vibrate which will
be transferred to the inner ear to
be perceived as sound.
 The speed of sound in the air
depends on the temperature:
=331
 
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 Sound Waves
 Ultrasound produces pictures of the
inside of the body using sound waves.
 Ultrasound uses a small probe called a
transducer and gel placed directly on the
skin.
 High-frequency sound waves travel from
the probe through the gel into the body.
 The probe collects the sounds that
bounce back.
 A computer uses those sound waves to
create an image.
 Ultrasound images are captured in real-
time, they can show the structure and
movement of the body's internal organs.
They can also show blood flowing
through blood vessels.

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Doppler Effect

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 The Doppler Effect
 A source of sound waves moving away from Pablo and toward Nancy
at a steady speed vs.
 After a wave crest leaves the source, its motion is governed by the
properties of the medium.

  T =

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The Doppler Effect

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 Self Reading
Applications of Electromagnetic Waves

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 Microwave Oven
• Microwave oven is most familiar as the energy source for cooking food
• Principle:
• Generate microwave radiation of appropriate frequency in the
working space of the oven where food is kept.
• The energy is directly delivered to water molecules which are
shared by the entire food..
• Magnetron tube converts high voltage into microwave
frequency
• Wave guide disperses the waves into oven through stirrer.
• Then microwaves reflect back and forth with metal walls of oven
through food.
• When microwave passes
through water content of food,
they cause water molecule to
rotate at the same frequency of
microwave (millions of time in
one second).
• This rotation creates a friction,
which heats up the food.
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 RADAR
• RADAR is acronym for Radio Detection And Ranging
• RADAR is an electromagnetic system, used for sensing, detecting,
and locating the object present in the ambience.
• Used to detect direction, speed, velocity, range, altitude of an object
with the help of radio waves
• Radar find applications in various systems such as Air Traffic Control
to track planes both on and off the grounds
• Used to track satellites

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 RADAR
• Principle
• A short pulse (less than 1 sec) of electromagnetic radiation (radio
wave f>109 Hz) is transmitted from a highly, directional antenna.
• The pulse is repeated 350-10000 cycles/s
• When this transmitted radiation hits a distant target, a part is reflected
back and echo pulse is picked by receiver
• The time interval between transmitted and echo pulse provides an
accurate measure of the distant target.
• Transmitted Power Output: For maximum distance communication, it
is more than 1 MW
• Maximum Range: Depends upon energy of the transmitted pulse and
sensitivity of receiving system

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 Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• MRI
• It was developed in the 1980s to use radio waves to diagnose illnesses
with a strong magnet and a radio wave emitter and a receiver.
• Protons in H atoms of the body act like magnets lining up with the
field.
• This releases energy which the receiver detects and creates a map of
the body’s tissues.

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 Ultraviolet Waves
• EM waves with wavelengths from about 400 billionths to 10 billionths of a
meter.
• Have enough energy to enter skin cells
• Longer wavelengths – UVA
• Shorter wavelengths – UVB rays
• Both can cause skin cancer

• Can UV radiation be useful?

• Helps body make vitamin D for healthy bones and teeth
• Used to sterilize medical supplies & equip
• Detectives use fluorescent powder (absorbs UV & glows) to find
fingerprints

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 X Rays and Gamma Rays
• EM waves with shortest wavelength & highest frequency
• High Energy- go through skin & muscle
• High level exposure causes cancer
• Both can be used in radiation therapy to kill diseased cells.

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 Radio Transmission
• Radio stations change sound to EM waves & then your radio receiver
changes the EM waves back to sound waves again.

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 Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Satellites and Receivers
• Each satellite sends signals indicating its position relative to the
receiver.
• This is an animation of 24 GPS satellites with 4 satellites in each of 6
orbits. It shows how many satellites are visible at any given time.
This ensures redundancy to ensure accuracy.

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 Global Positioning System (GPS)
• The mathematics of GPS
• The intersection of two spheres is either empty or a circle.
• The circle will intersect a third sphere in at most two points.
• This geometric fact is the basis of GPS since other factors can be used
to eliminate one of the two points as being an irrelevant solution to the
problem.

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 Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Satellites and signals
• Each satellite of the network sends a signal indicating its position and
the time of the transmission of the signal.
• Since signals travel at the speed of light, the receiver can determine
the radial distance of the satellite from the receiver.
• Many think that the receivers transmit information to the satellites,
whereas in reality, it is the other way around.
• The receiver then uses basic math to determine its position.

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Sum of two signals

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Summary

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 Summary
 A transverse wave is a wave in which the displacement is
perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels.
 For example, a wave travels along a string in a horizontal direction
while the particles that make up the string oscillate vertically.
 Electromagnetic waves are transverse waves: the electromagnetic field
oscillates in perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels.

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Summary

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