Transverse wave

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Transverse wave

A transverse wave is a moving wave

Wave

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A transverse wave is a moving wave

Wave

A wave is a disturbance that propagates through space and time, usually with transference of energy. While a mechanical wave exists in a medium , waves of electromagnetic radiation can travel through vacuum, that is, without a medium....
that consists of oscillations occurring perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer. If a transverse wave is moving in the positive x-direction, its oscillations are in up and down directions that lie in the y-z plane.

If you anchor one end of a ribbon or string and hold the other end in your hand, you can create transverse waves by moving your hand up-and-down. Notice though, that you can also launch waves by moving your hand side-to-side. This is an important point. There are two independent directions in which wave motion can occur. In this case, these are the y and z directions mentioned above. Further, if you carefully move your hand in a clockwise circle, you will launch waves that describe a left-handed helix as they propagate away. Similarly, if you move your hand in a counter-clockwise circle, a right-handed helix will form. These phenomena of simultaneous motion in two directions go beyond the kinds of waves you can create on the surface of water; in general a wave on a string can be two-dimensional. Two-dimensional transverse waves exhibit a phenomenon called polarization

Polarization

Polarization is a property of waves that describes the orientation of their oscillations. For transverse waves such as many electromagnetic waves, it describes the orientation of the oscillations in the plane perpendicular to the wave's direction of travel....
. A wave produced by moving your hand in a line, up and down for instance, is a linearly polarized

Linear polarization

In electrodynamics, linear polarization or plane polarization of electromagnetic radiation is a confinement of the electric field vector or magnetic field vector to a given plane along the direction of propagation....
wave, a special case. A wave produced by moving your hand in a circle is a circularly polarized

Circular polarization

In electrodynamics, circular polarization of electromagnetic radiation is a polarization such that the tip of the electric field vector, at a fixed point in space, describes a circle as time progresses....
wave, another special case. If your motion is not strictly in a line or a circle your hand will describe an ellipse and the wave will be elliptically polarized

Elliptical polarization

In electrodynamics, elliptical polarization is the polarization of electromagnetic radiation such that the tip of the electric field vector describes an ellipse in any fixed plane intersecting, and Surface normal to, the direction of propagation....
.

Electromagnetic waves behave in this same way, although it is harder to see. Electromagnetic waves are also two-dimensional transverse waves. You can think of a ray of light

Ray (optics)

In optics, a ray is an idealized narrow beam of light. Rays are used to model the propagation of light through an optical system, by dividing the real light field up into discrete rays that can be computationally propagated through the system by the techniques of Ray tracing ....
as behaving something like the waves on a string.

This two-dimensional nature should not be confused with the two components of an electromagnetic wave, the electric and magnetic field components, which are shown in the electromagnetic wave diagram here. The light wave diagram shows linear polarization

Linear polarization

In electrodynamics, linear polarization or plane polarization of electromagnetic radiation is a confinement of the electric field vector or magnetic field vector to a given plane along the direction of propagation....
. Each of these fields, the electric and the magnetic, exhibits two-dimensional transverse wave behavior, just like the waves on a string.

The transverse plane wave animation shown is also an example of linear polarization

Linear polarization

Examples

Examples of transverse waves include seismic S (secondary) waves, and the motion of the electric (E) and magnetic (M) fields in an electromagnetic wave, which both oscillate perpendicularly to each other as well as to the direction of energy transfer. Therefore an electromagnetic wave consists of two transverse waves, visible light being an example of an electromagnetic wave. See electromagnetic spectrum

Electromagnetic spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible electromagnetic radiation frequencies. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation from that particular object....
for information on different types of electromagnetic waves.

An oscillating string is another example of a transverse wave; a more everyday example would be an audience wave

Audience wave

The wave , is achieved in a packed stadium when successive groups of spectators briefly stand and raise their arms. Each spectator is required to rise at the same time as those straight in front and behind, and slightly after the person immediately to either the right or the left ....
.

Transverse wave

Examples

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