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Question
what type of wave is a sound wave?
ocean
longitudinal
transverse
Sound waves are longitudinal waves. In longitudinal waves, the particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of wave propagation. Sound requires a medium (like air, water, or solids) to travel. When a sound is produced, it causes the particles of the medium to compress and rarefact (expand). For example, in air, the vibrating source (like a speaker cone) pushes air particles together (compression) and then the particles move apart (rarefaction), creating a pattern of alternating compressions and rarefactions that move away from the source as a sound wave. Ocean waves are surface waves (a combination of longitudinal and transverse motion in water particles) and are not the type of wave that sound is. Transverse waves have particle vibration perpendicular to the wave direction (e.g., light waves, waves on a string when you pluck it).
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longitudinal