On Thursday, January 31, 2008, we took notes on wavefront and the Doppler Effect. Before we did that, we watched a four minute video on waves. It was quite interesting.
Wavefront is a characteristic of waves. It is defined as the locus of adjacent points, which are all in phase. (Quick refresher - waves are in phase if they have the same displacement from rest position and the same direction of motion.) An example of a wavefront is the crest of a water wave. There are also spherical wavefronts that result in a circular depiction of the waves.
The Doppler Effect occurs when there is a variation in the observed frequency when there is relative motion between a source and an observer. Note - the actual frequency does not change.
When a sound is approaching, a higher frequency is observed. When a sound is receding, a lower frequency is observed. In sound, a change in frequency is a change in pitch. In light, a change in frequency is a change is color.
At the conclusion of class, we received a homework assignment that included a variety of problems dealing with the characteristics of waves, which were discussed on Wednesday. We had about five minutes to work on this worksheet in class. It was quality.
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