MISCONCEPTIONS AND PROPER CONCEPTIONS
MISCONCEPTIONS - PROPER CONCEPTIONS
Waves transport matter - Waves transport energy; not matter.
There must be a medium for a wave to travel through- Only
mechanical waves need a medium in order to propagate.
Electromagnetic waves do not need a medium in order to
propagate
Waves do not have energy-Waves are an energy transport
phenomena that transport energy along a medium without
transporting matter.
All waves travel the same way - Based on the direction of
movement the individual particles of the medium travel relative
to the direction in which a wave travels, a wave can be
categorized in to one of three wave groups: longitudinal,
transverse or surface.
Frequency is connected to loudness for all amplitudes Frequency refers to how often the particles of a medium
vibrate within a unit of time when a wave passes through the
medium. The loudness of a sound relates to the amplitude of
the wave.
Big waves travel faster than small waves in the same directionAll electromagnetic waves in vacuum travel at the speed of
light. The speed of all mechanical waves depends of the
mechanical properties of the medium.
Different colors of light are different types of waves - Light is a
form of electromagnetic wave. Colors are the result of the
differences in energy of electromagnetic waves that fall in the
visual part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Pitch is related to intensity - The pitch of a sound is related to
its frequency.
Light is a particle - Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation.
It shows both wave and particle properties depending on the
type of experimental conditions under which light is being
studied.
Light is a mixture of particles and waves - Light exhibit
characteristics of both waves and particles.
Light waves and radio waves are not the same thing - Radio
waves are light waves, or electromagnetic waves. Visible light
waves have a shorter wavelength than radio waves.
The speed of light never changes - The speed of light changes
when light enters a denser medium by a factor called the index
of refraction of the medium.
The addition of all colors of light yields black - The addition of
all colors of light produces a white light. Adding different colors
of paint might produce a dark color of paint.
In refraction, the frequency of light changes - When a ray of
light is refracted its frequency stays the same but the
wavelength and velocity will change. Refraction results from
the change in direction of a wave due to a change in its velocity
as it moves from one medium to another with a different index
or