Longitudinal Wave
- A wave in which the vibrations of the medium are parallel to the direction the wave is moving.
- Sound waves propagating through air are a good example.
- In longitudinal waves, such as sound waves, wavelength is the distance from rarefaction to rarefaction, or compression to compression.
See also: Compressional Wave, Cylindrical Wave, Plane Wave, Rayleigh Waves, Shear Wave, Sound Waves, Spherical Wave, Transverse Wave, Wave.
Subjects: Noise & Vibration Physics
- Weblinks:
- Acoustics and Vibrations Animations A collection of animations produced by Daniel A. Russell, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Applied Physics at Kettering University.