Question

body waves: p and s waves

• p or ____________ waves
• ____________ waves
• travel through __________ liquids or __________
• ____________ wave
• material movement is in the ____________ direction as wave movement
• s or ____________ waves
• ____________ than p waves
• travel only through ____________

Explanation:

To fill in the blanks about body waves (P and S waves), we use knowledge from Geology (a subfield of Natural Science, specifically Earth Science).

For P - waves:

• P stands for Primary waves (they are the first to arrive during an earthquake).
• They are Compressional (or longitudinal) waves.
• They can travel through solids, liquids, or gases (they are the only seismic waves that can move through all three states of matter).
• They are a longitudinal wave, meaning material movement is in the same direction as wave movement (compression and rarefaction along the wave's path).

For S - waves:

• S stands for Secondary waves.
• They are slower than P - waves (P - waves are faster and arrive first, S - waves follow).
• They travel only through solids (they cannot travel through liquids or gases because they involve shear motion, which requires a rigid medium).

Answer:

• P or \(\boldsymbol{\text{Primary}}\) waves
• \(\boldsymbol{\text{Compressional (Longitudinal)}}\) waves
• Travel through \(\boldsymbol{\text{solids}}\), liquids or \(\boldsymbol{\text{gases}}\)
• \(\boldsymbol{\text{Longitudinal}}\) wave
• Material movement is in the \(\boldsymbol{\text{same}}\) direction as wave movement
• S or \(\boldsymbol{\text{Secondary}}\) waves
• \(\boldsymbol{\text{Slower}}\) than P waves
• Travel only through \(\boldsymbol{\text{solids}}\)