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Diagram illustrating the relationship between the wavenumber and the other properties of harmonic waves. In the physical sciences, the wavenumber (or wave number), also known as repetency, [1] is the spatial frequency of a wave, measured in cycles per unit distance (ordinary wavenumber) or radians per unit distance (angular wavenumber).
Wavelength depends on the medium (for example, vacuum, air, or water) that a wave travels through. Examples of waves are sound waves, light, water waves and periodic electrical signals in a conductor. A sound wave is a variation in air pressure, while in light and other electromagnetic radiation the strength of the electric and the magnetic ...
In optics, an optical medium is material through which light and other electromagnetic waves propagate. It is a form of transmission medium . The permittivity and permeability of the medium define how electromagnetic waves propagate in it.
A linear medium if the amplitudes of different waves at any particular point in the medium can be added; A uniform medium or homogeneous medium if its physical properties are unchanged at different locations in space; An anisotropic medium if one or more of its physical properties differ in one or more directions
It is possible to make the effective speed of light dependent on wavelength by making light pass through a material which has a non-constant index of refraction, or by using light in a non-uniform medium such as a waveguide. In this case, the waveform will spread over time, such that a narrow pulse will become an extended pulse, i.e., be dispersed.
A medium having this common property may be termed a dispersive medium. Although the term is used in the field of optics to describe light and other electromagnetic waves , dispersion in the same sense can apply to any sort of wave motion such as acoustic dispersion in the case of sound and seismic waves, and in gravity waves (ocean waves).
a the wave amplitude of each frequency component in metres, k 1 and k 2 the wave number of each wave component, in radians per metre, and; ω 1 and ω 2 the angular frequency of each wave component, in radians per second. Both ω 1 and k 1, as well as ω 2 and k 2, have to satisfy the dispersion relation:
An acoustic wave is a mechanical wave that transmits energy through the movements of atoms and molecules. Acoustic waves transmit through fluids in a longitudinal manner (movement of particles are parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave); in contrast to electromagnetic waves that transmit in transverse manner (movement of particles at a right angle to the direction of propagation ...