What is elastic waves in solids?

An elastic wave is the propagation of disturbance through a solid, liquid or a gaseous medium. During this propagation, the energy of the elastic deformation gets transferred even in the absence of flow of matter. The acoustic wind is an example of this. An elastic wave can be a plane, spherical or cylindrical wave.

What is an example of a elastic wave?

Definition of Elastic Waves. In a solid, liquid, or gaseous medium, an elastic disturbance propagates. Waves formed in the earth’s crust during earthquakes, as well as sound waves and ultrasonic waves in liquids and gases, are examples of elastic waves.

Which waves are elastic waves?

Sound wave, which does require a medium to travel and thus is an elastic wave. Additional information: Electro-Magnetic waves can travel through both empty space as well as gaseous medium. But their speed is highest in empty space which is 3,00,000 km/sec, whereas their speed reduces in liquid or gaseous medium.

What is propagation of elastic waves?

Other waves that we cannot see are the sound waves that propagate in the air. They allow both hearing and speech. Elastic waves are of the same type of acoustic waves but can be also of transverse nature as they can propagate in solids.

Can transverse waves travel in gas?

Transverse waves cannot propagate in a gas or a liquid because there is no mechanism for driving motion perpendicular to the propagation of the wave.

What are the types of waves?

Waves come in two kinds, longitudinal and transverse. Transverse waves are like those on water, with the surface going up and down, and longitudinal waves are like of those of sound, consisting of alternating compressions and rarefactions in a medium.

What is meant by elastic wave?

Elastic wave, motion in a medium in which, when particles are displaced, a force proportional to the displacement acts on the particles to restore them to their original position.

Why Seismic waves are elastic?

When an earthquake or explosion occurs, part of the energy released is as elastic waves that are transmitted through the earth. The waves are then detected and recorded by seismograms, which measure, amplify and record the motion of the ground.

What are elastic waves in a crystal?

The elastic waves are excited in the crystal by transduc- ers made from piezoelectric crystals (Sect. 6): when excited by a sinusoidal electric field, they create a sinusoidal strain wave which is transmitted by con- tact to the crystal under investigation.

Do transverse waves need a medium?

Transverse waves require a relatively rigid medium in order to transmit their energy. As one particle begins to move it must be able to exert a pull on its nearest neighbor. If the medium is not rigid as is the case with fluids, the particles will slide past each other.

In which medium do transverse waves travel?

This type of wave is characterized by areas of high and low densities in the medium, called compressions and rarefactions. While a longitudinal wave can travel through solids, liquids and gases, transverse waves can only travel through solids.