Can anyone explain to me a visual of Transverse waves??

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johnwandering

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I know the textbook definition

But take this. If you hit a steel rod Vertical its length it will generate transverse waves.

I can't picture this in my head. To me it seems like the same longitudinal waves are created no matter how you hit it...


Please someone explain this to me...
 
if you hit a steel rod across its length, u kinda cause the rod to bend perpendicular to its length (imagine bending a straw). this bending energy then causes the rod to move up and down. or, at least, the wave would be an up/down kind of wave of the rod length. this is a transverse wave because the material moves up or down from the original length, as it does this, the wave as a whole moves forward from one end of the rod to the other end. it is transverse because the wave propagation and the wave material displacement are in perpendicular directions
 
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