17.1Mechanical Waves
 Key Concepts
What causes mechanical waves?
What are the three main types of mechanical waves?
 Vocabulary
mechanical wave
medium
crest
trough
transverse wave
compression
rarefaction
longitudinal wave
surface wave
 Reading Strategy
 Previewing   Copy the web diagram below. Use Figure 2 to complete the diagram. Then use Figures 3 and 4 to make similar diagrams for longitudinal waves and surface waves.
 

Have you ever gone to a wave pool at an amusement park? You can hear the laughter and screams as wave after wave passes by, giving the people a wild ride. It's obvious that waves are moving through the water, but you may not realize that the screams and laughter are also carried by waves. In this chapter, you will learn about the different kinds of mechanical waves, including sound waves.

 
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