Transverse/Longitudinal Waves

[HawkDoc]

Could someone list what kind of materials/phenomena propagate each way...thanks!

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[manfood.com]

sound = longitudinal

light = transverse, that's all I know, and hopefully that's right, lol. DIZZAMS!!!

 

[Shrike]

You do not need to know this. Either it doesn't matter at all, or the passage gives you what you need. Relax, finsh studying biology, and then go see a movie.

 

[PepperdineP-MED]

had this on saturday's mcat, wish i had known what kind of wave travels through a metal rod

 

[HistoRocks]

had this on saturday's mcat, wish i had known what kind of wave travels through a metal rod

Metals conduct electricity well. So I'm guessing it would be a question of what kind of wave - transverse or longitudinal - is an electromagnetic wave? I haven't had physics II yet, so the rest of the answer is beyond me. Hopefully this isn't mechanics...

 

[MollyMalone]

You do not need to know this. Either it doesn't matter at all, or the passage gives you what you need. Relax, finsh studying biology, and then go see a movie.

Sorry, but that's just not true. You needed to know it for my PS section, at least.

 

[codliveroil]

Sorry, but that's just not true. You needed to know it for my PS section, at least.

Indeed. The answer to a certain question on my form was something on the order of, "sound is a longitudinal wave, and light is a transverse wave".

And NO, this information was NOT in the passage.

 

[iwutitan]

Indeed. The answer to a certain question on my form was something on the order of, "sound is a longitudinal wave, and light is a transverse wave".

And NO, this information was NOT in the passage.

agree, it was in my form too... good thing it was my lucky guess

 

[Shrike]

Sorry, but that's just not true. You needed to know it for my PS section, at least.

OK, could one you who saw something like this on the test please PM me as much about the question as you remember? Don't post the details, as that's verboten.

Thanks. If they're putting it on there, I need to know.

 

[codliveroil]

I don't actually remember the question. It might have asked for a way by which sound waves and light waves were different. I think this question was part of an optics passage - but it had nothing to do with the passage itself.

The other possible answer choices were very similar but wrong, because each had the word "longitudinal" or "transverse" assigned to the wrong wave.

 

[tank you]

had this on saturday's mcat, wish i had known what kind of wave travels through a metal rod

i had that, the answer is longitudinal i believe.

 

[OSU ACTON]

The difference between the two waves is the way they travel.

Longitudinal waves travel in the direction of the wave propagation (think compression and dispersion of air in sound waves traveling in the same direction as the wave)

Transverse waves travel perpendicular to the wave propagation (Think of a single point on a string that a waves is moving along. The wave moves from left to right but the single point on the string only moves up and down. That is the major difference)

A hammer hitting a metal rod would likely cause a shock wave. A wave that involves the compression and expansion of particles in the same direction as the wave. So I put longitudinal. Hope that was right!

 

[DrChandy]

Metals conduct electricity well. So I'm guessing it would be a question of what kind of wave - transverse or longitudinal - is an electromagnetic wave? I haven't had physics II yet, so the rest of the answer is beyond me. Hopefully this isn't mechanics...

Metals conduct electricity via a phenomenon known as drifting, and thus these electrons have whats called a drift velocity in the presence of an electric potential. Electrons which already have enough energy to bypass the relatively low band gap of metals can drift from one atom of the metal to another. The presence of a potential allows these electrons to move towards the the site of positive potential. Neither transverse nor longitudinal waves apply to the means of how metals conduct electricity. The density of charge as a function of time in a given metal, however, may be sinusoidal. I hope this helps.

 

[Shrike]

Every physical material can conduct a longitudinal wave -- that's a compression wave, also known as sound. Every physical material with a surface can conduct a transverse wave, with displacement normal to the surface. (Note that I assume a surface is impossible without at least one liquid or solid present, otherwise there would be an exception for a gas-gas interface.)

The metal rod is therefore capable, as is every object, of conducting both waves. An individual molecule could move back and forth along its length, or back and forth perpendicular to its length. The question is how the wave started. If the hammer blow is along the length of the rod (as people tell me it was), the wave is longitudinal. If it is perpendicular to is length of the rod, the resulting wave is transverse (think of those jump rope problems you started with -- the rod oscillates like a jump rope; in fact, maybe think of a (metal) piano string...).

This is why I avoided the OP's question -- essentially everything can conduct every kind of wave (there are others I haven't listed). The question is not the material, it is the way the wave starts -- the way waves work, the initial conditions (displacement or velocity stress) determines the wave form.