Transverse Waves - Transverse waves move with oscillations that are perpendicular to the direction of the wave. For example, as the human ear receives sound waves from the surrounding environment, it detects rarefactions as low-pressure periods and compressions as high-pressure periods. For this reason, sound waves are considered to be pressure waves. Pressure Sound Waves - Because sound waves consist of compressions and rarefactions, their regions fluctuate between low and high-pressure patterns. Sound energy, or energy associated with the vibrations created by a vibrating source, requires a medium to travel, which makes sound energy a mechanical wave. These particle-to-particle, mechanical vibrations of sound conductance qualify sound waves as mechanical waves. As particles continue to displace one another with mechanical vibrations, the disturbance is transported throughout the medium. As one particle is displaced from its equilibrium position, it pushes or pulls on neighboring molecules, causing them to be displaced from their equilibrium. Mechanical Sound Waves - A sound wave moves through air by displacing air particles in a chain reaction. Similarly, when a tuning fork is struck, the direction of the sound wave is parallel to the motion of the air particles. If you push a slinky back and forth, the coils move in a parallel fashion (back and forth). Longitudinal Sound Waves - A longitudinal wave is a wave in which the motion of the medium’s particles is parallel to the direction of the energy transport. Keep reading to find out what qualifies them as such.

So what type of wave is sound? Sound waves fall into three categories: longitudinal waves, mechanical waves, and pressure waves.

Wave 11 complete