4.2 Difference between Longitudinal and Transverse wave

Mechanical Waves are the type of waves which propagate through a material medium at a wave speed which depends on the elastic and inertial properties of that medium. There are two basic types of wave motion for mechanical waves: longitudinal waves and transverse waves.

Here's a qucik video of how the transverse and longitudinal waves look,



Here's a summary of the longitudinal waves and transerves waves as shown in the table below,
 
Transverse wave
Longitudinal wave
In transverse waves, the particles oscillate in a direction perpendicular to the wave motion.
In longitudinal waves the particles oscillate in the direction parallel to the wave motion.
Surface water waves and wave motion in a stretched rope are examples of transverse waves.
Sound waves and the wave motion in a coil spring are examples of longitudinal waves.
Transverse waves can be polarized.
Longitudinal waves cannot be polarized.

 

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