17.1  Mechanical Waves (continued)

What Are Mechanical Waves?

A mechanical wave is a disturbance in matter that carries energy from one place to another. Recall that energy is the ability to do work. In a wave pool, each wave carries energy across the pool. You can see the effects of a wave's energy when the wave lifts people in the water.

Mechanical waves require matter to travel through. The material through which a wave travels is called a medium. Solids, liquids, and gases all can act as mediums. In a wave pool, waves travel along the surface of the water. Water is the medium. Waves travel through a rope when you shake one end of it. In that case, the medium is the rope.

Figure 1  In a wave pool, the waves carry energy across the pool.

  A mechanical wave is created when a source of energy causes a vibration to travel through a medium. A vibration is a repeating back-and-forth motion. When you shake a rope, you add energy at one end. The wave that results is a vibration that carries energy along the rope.

For: Links on vibrations and waves