Wave motion is activity that carries energy from one place to another without actually moving any matter. In wave motion, energy—the ability to perform work, or to exert force over distance—is transmitted from one place to another without actually moving any matter along the wave.
Demonstrations of wave motion:
The source of any wave is a vibration or oscillation.
Ropes:
The wave on a rope can be produced by tying one of its ends to a wall, and moving it up and down on the other end. These movements make up the vibrations and oscillations. The rope waves travel sideways whilst the rope itself is moved up and down. The rope is the medium through which the rope waves move or propagate.
Ripple tank:
A ripple tank is a shallow glass-bottomed tank containing a small amount of water. A light shining downwards through the water casts a shadow of the ripples on the floor below, showing up the pattern that they make.
Springs:
A stretched ‘slinky’ spring can show waves. One end of the spring is fixed and the other end is moved side to side. The waves travel along the spring. A second type of wave can be demonstrated by moving the free end back and forth. A series of compressions and rarefactions travel along the spring. These are two different types of waves:
Transverse waves, in which the particles carrying the wave move from side to side, at right angles to the direction in which the wave is moving;
Longitudinal waves, in which the particles carrying the wave move back and forth, along the direction in which the wave is moving.