There are many things in the world that require a physical medium in which to travel. Sound, for example, needs a medium like air or water to move through. Light also needs a medium, typically either air or glass.
Even our thoughts need a physical medium – our brains – in order to be transmitted from one person to another.
But what about things that don’t seem to require a physical medium? What about electricity, for instance?
We often think of electricity as moving through the air – but does it really need anything to move through?
It turns out that electricity does need something to move through. In order for an electric current to flow, there must be a conductive material – like metal wires – through which it can travel.
This is why metal wires are used in electrical circuits: they provide an easy path for the electric current to follow.
In order for something to require a physical medium in which to travel, it must be a material object. This is because waves and particles can only travel through a medium if they are material objects themselves. For example, light waves can only travel through a medium if they are made up of photons (particles of light).
Similarly, sound waves can only travel through a medium if they are made up of molecules (particles of matter).
Which Wave Requires a Physical Medium in Which to Travel?
There are two types of waves- transverse and longitudinal. Transverse waves are the type that we typically think of when we think of waves. They move perpendicular to the direction of travel and can be found in things like ripples in a pond or light waves.
Longitudinal waves, on the other hand, move parallel to the direction of travel. An example of this would be sound waves- they travel through the air (or another medium) and vibrate along their axis.
So, which wave requires a physical medium in order to travel?
The answer is both! Transverse waves need a medium in order to propagate (like water), but so do longitudinal waves (such as sound). Without a medium, there would be nothing for the wave to interact with and it wouldn’t be able to move.
Which Requires a Physical Medium in Which to Travel Light Sound Or Both Explain?
While both light and sound are technically forms of energy that travel through the air, they each have different properties that require different mediums in order to travel. Sound waves are actually compression waves, meaning that they require a medium in order to travel as the particles of the medium are pushed together and then pulled apart by the wave. This is why you can hear sounds underwater but not see light – because while water can carry sound waves, it doesn’t allow for the movement of photons (the particles that make up light).
Does Light Requires a Physical Medium in Which to Travel?
Yes, light requires a physical medium in which to travel. In a vacuum, where there is no matter, light travels as electromagnetic waves. These waves are oscillating electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space at the speed of light.
In order to travel through a material medium, like air, water, or glass, light must interact with particles of that medium. The wave nature of light allows it to interact with these particles in a way that causes them to vibrate. This vibration then propagates through the material until it reaches our eyes and we see the object that emitted the light.
What Needs a Medium to Travel?
For something to be considered a “medium,” it must be able to carry or transmit energy. The three most common types of mediums are solids, liquids, and gases. In order for energy to travel through a solid, it must vibrate the atoms that make up the solid.
This is how sound waves travel through the air- by vibrating the particles of gas that make up the air. Similarly, light waves travel through solids by vibrating the atoms of the solid material.
Liquids can also carry energy, but they do so in a different way than solids.
Instead of relying on vibration to carry energy, liquids rely on currents. When you see water flowing in a river, those water molecules are actually moving around and bumping into each other, which creates a current. That current is then capable of carrying energy from one place to another.
Finally, gases can also serve as mediums for carrying energy. Just like with liquids, this relies on creating currents within the gas itself. The difference is that instead of water molecules bumping into each other, gas molecules simply collide with each other in a process known as Brownian motion.
Lecture – 3 Physical Medium – I
What Requires a Physical Medium in Which to Travel Light Or Sound
When it comes to light or sound, what requires a physical medium in which to travel? This is a question that has puzzled scientists for centuries. It was first asked by Greek philosopher Aristotle and then again by Italian physicist Galileo.
The answer, according to modern physics, is that both light and sound need a medium in order to travel.
Light is a type of electromagnetic radiation, which means it consists of electric and magnetic fields that oscillate at right angles to each other. These fields produce waves of energy that can travel through empty space.
However, when these waves encounter matter, they are able to interact with the atoms and molecules that make up the matter. This interaction is what allows us to see things.
Sound is also a type of vibration, but unlike light, it cannot travel through empty space.
Sound waves are longitudinal waves, meaning the vibrations are parallel to the direction of wave propagation. In order for sound waves to propagate (or travel), they need particles through which they can vibrate. These particles can be gas molecules (like in air), liquids (like water), or solids (like the surface of a drum).
So why does this difference between light and sound exist? It all has to do with how their respective fields interact with matter. Light interacts with charged particles (like electrons) while sound interacts with mass particles (like atoms).
This difference means that light can travel through transparent materials like glass or air, while sound needs denser materials like water or metal in order to propagate efficiently.
Does Light Require a Medium
In order for light to exist, it must have a medium. This is because light is a type of energy that travels in waves. In order for these waves to exist, they must have something to travel through.
The most common mediums that light waves travel through are air, water, and glass. Without one of these mediums, light would not be able to exist.
A Wave That Requires a Medium Through Which to Travel
A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy through matter or space, with little or no associated mass transport. In common usage, the term wave generally refers to an ocean surface wave. Waves can also be generated in the atmosphere (wind waves), on the surface of liquids (surface gravity waves), and on the solid surface of elastic materials such as metals and transversely vibrating strings (stress waves).
There are two main types of waves: mechanical and electromagnetic. Mechanical waves require a medium through which to travel—that is, they cannot propagate through a vacuum. Examples of mechanical waves include sound waves and seismic (earthquake)waves.
Electromagnetic waves do not require a medium; they can travel through a vacuum at the speed of light. Examples of electromagnetic waves include gamma rays, x-rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves.
In order for a wave to exist, there must be a source that produces it—for example, an earthquake fault or a tuning fork—and there must be some mechanism for transporting the energy from the source to other locations.
The simplest type of wave consists of periodic oscillations in just one direction; these are called longitudinal or compression waves (e.g., sound). More complicated patterns involving two directions are called transverse or shear waves (e.g., earthquakes).
A Wave That Moves the Medium in a Direction Perpendicular
A wave is a disturbance that propagates through space and time, usually with transference of energy. Waves are commonly described by their amplitude, wavelength, and frequency. The study of waves is called wave mechanics.
In a medium, waves can interact with each other to produce interference and diffraction effects.
The direction perpendicular to the direction of propagation of a wave is called the polarization. A polarized wave is one in which the vibrations occur only in one plane perpendicular to the direction of travel; an unpolarized wave is one in which the vibrations are random with respect to direction.
The polarization of light can be determined by its effect on another light wave; for example, when two beams of light intersect at right angles, the intensity of light will be maximized if both beams are polarized in the same plane. If they are polarized in different planes, then the intensity will be minimized.
When a wave encounters an obstacle or boundary between two different media, some of its energy may be reflected back into the medium from whence it came (the incident medium), while some may pass through into the second medium (the transmitted medium).
The ratio of these energies depends on the properties of both media and on the angle at which the wave hits the boundary—a phenomenon known as reflection.
Conclusion
In order for something to travel, it needs a physical medium in which to travel. This is because things can only travel through space, and space is a physical medium. Therefore, anything that wants to travel from one place to another needs a physical medium in which to travel.