A wave can be described as a disturbance that travels through a medium, transporting energy from one location to another location. The medium is simply the material through which the sound, or disturbance, is moving; it can be thought of as a series of interacting particles. The example of a slinky wave is often used to illustrate the nature of a wave. A disturbance is typically created within the slinky by the back and forth movement of the first coil of the slinky. The first coil becomes disturbed and begins to push or pull on the second coil; this push or pull on the second coil will shift the second coil from its balanced position. As the second coil becomes shifted, it begins to push or pull on the third coil; the push or pull on the third coil displa

ces it from its balanced position. As the third coil becomes shifted, it begins to push or pull on the fourth coil. This process continues one after the other, each individual particle acting to displace the neighboring particle; eventually the disturbance travels all the way through the slinky. As the disturbance moves from coil to coil, the energy which was originally introduced into the first coil is transported along the medium from one location to another.

Sometimes, the tuning fork is mounted on a soundboard. When this happens, the vibrating tuning fork, connected to the soundboard, sets the soundboard into a vibrating motion. In turn, the soundboard sets the air inside of the it into a vibrating motion. As the tines of the tuning fork, the structure of the soundboard, and the inside of the soundboard begin vibrating at the same frequency, a louder sound is produced. In fact, the more particles which can be made to vibrate, the louder or more amplified the sound. This concept is also demonstrated by the placing the vibrating tuning fork against the glass panel of a window; the vibrating tuning fork sets the glass panel into a vibrating motion and results in an amplified sound.

So as you can see, sound waves are both mechanical and longitudinal. And they are constantly around us and effecting all that we do. Whether we are talking, singing or even listening to music, sound is a major part of our everyday lives and that will probably never change (unless we run out of AIR).

A sound wave is similar to a slinky for a couple of reasons. First, there is a medium, which carries the disturbance from one location to another. Usually, this medium is air; though it could be any material such as water or steel. The medium is simply a series of interconnected and interacting particles. Second, there is an original source of the wave, some vibrating object capable of disturbing the first particle of the med

Some common words found in the essay are:
, tuning fork, sound wave, air molecules, push pull, particle interaction, tines tuning, sound waves, vibrating motion, vibrating string, tines tuning fork, begins push, causes air molecules, begins push pull, direction parallel direction, parallel direction energy,
Approximate Word count = 1298
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)