IPC.6.E
The student is expected to plan and conduct an investigation to evaluate the transfer of energy or information through different materials by different types of waves such as wireless signals, ultraviolet radiation, and microwaves;
Knowledge and Skills Statement
Science concepts. The student knows the impact of energy transfer and energy conservation in everyday life.
Further Explanation
A transverse wave can be described as the particles moving up and down on the y-axis as the waves travel along the x-axis. In longitudinal waves, the particles wiggle back and forth along the same plane as the direction the wave travels, changing the material's density and the amount of energy the particles carry as the wave travels through them. For example, earthquakes transfer energy through primary and secondary waves.
The primary waves are compressional pressure waves that travel fastest through the ground. Secondary waves are transverse waves in which the particles of the medium move perpendicular to the direction the wave travels and physically displace the ground.
Supporting Information
Research
Wilhelm, Jennifer, and Jere Confrey. "Designing Project-Enhanced Environments: Students Investigate Waves and Sound." The Science Teacher 72, no. 9 (2005): 42-45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/i24138964
Summary: In this article, the authors describe a project-enhanced unit on sound waves they they introduced to their students. The unit was implemented within an Industrial Electronics course of an inner-city, low-performing high school in Texas. The unit was aimed to have students gain conceptual understanding of sound waves and wave phenomena and the related trigonometric reasoning associated with sinusoidal curves and superposition of sinusoidal waves.