28 November 2023

Difference Between Longitudinal and Transverse Wave

Longitudinal waves have the medium's particles moving back and forth in the same direction as the wave. Transverse waves travel in one direction with the wave and the medium particles moving at an angle to it. We have covered in this article the difference between Longitudinal waves and transverse waves to better understand this topic.

What is a Longitudinal wave?

A longitudinal wave is one in which the medium particle displacement is parallel to the wave's direction of propagation. A compression wave is the most basic kind of longitudinal wave, where the medium particles are moved so that they are closer together than they would be if the wave hadn't happened.

What is Transverse Wave?

A wave with oscillation perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer is called a transverse wave. As stated in various ways, the particles of the medium vibrate perpendicular to the direction the wave is traveling. Another name for this kind of wave is shear wave.

Difference between Longitudinal wave and Transverse Wave

  • In the Longitudinal wave, the movement of the particle is along the direction of the wave, on the other hand, transverse wave the movement of the particle is perpendicular to the direction of the wave.
  • Longitudinal waves can travel through all states of matter, on the other hand, Longitudinal waves travel only in solids.
  • Compression and rarefaction are the two components of longitudinal waves. Crests and troughs create a transverse wave.
  • Sound waves are Longitudinal waves, and Light waves are transverse waves.
  • In Longitudinal waves the movement of particles is usually parallel to the movement of energy, in contrast, in transverse waves, the particles are displaced perpendicular to the direction of the traveling wave.
  • The production of longitudinal waves can take place in any medium solid, gas, or liquid. The production of Transverse waves can take place in liquid and gas mediums only.
  • An Example of a longitudinal wave is the earthquake Pwave, An example of a transverse wave is the earthquake S wave.
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