Can someone explain these concepts to me and what I should know for the MCAT?
Standing and Traveling Waves
- Thread starter kfcman289
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A traveling wave can be seen moving, a standing wave doesn't look like it's moving. The things to know for the MCAT are listed on the aamc site, if you google something like aamc physics topics mcat. There isn't much to know about the waves themselves, but the hard part is remembering the equations associated with the two different waves/ different waves and which type of thing has what wave. (Ex: sound waves vs. light waves).
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For the "traveling waves" which really covers a wide range of topics such as light and optics, as well as wave equations you should know that for an EM wave Energy = h*f where h = planks constant and f = frequency. You should also know that the speed of the wave is dependent only on the medium. Also, when a wave moves from one medium to another, the speed changes, but the frequency does not. There's a lot more, but those are the main concepts.
The standing waves are much simpler. You just need to know that standing waves are a special case where a wave traveling in a closed or open situation seems to "stand still," because the nodes are the same as the wave travels. Even if you don't know the concept, you should memorize the 2 equations relating the harmonic wavelength and the length of the pipe or rope where the wave travels.
The standing waves are much simpler. You just need to know that standing waves are a special case where a wave traveling in a closed or open situation seems to "stand still," because the nodes are the same as the wave travels. Even if you don't know the concept, you should memorize the 2 equations relating the harmonic wavelength and the length of the pipe or rope where the wave travels.
