Oscillations and waves

Such phenomena as vibrations and waves are among the most widespread in nature, both living and inorganic. The oscillatory processes are those in which some of the exposed states of a particular system are periodically repeated. Since the school everyone knows the experiments with a swinging pendulum - this is an example of the simplest oscillatory process.

More complex, but from this no less common can be considered such a phenomenon as waves. Their nature is very diverse, and we can observe it by the example of many of the phenomena that surround us. The most visible, if one can put it this way, is light, its spread in various environments - air, water, vacuum, chemical mixtures.

To understand how vibrations and waves are interrelated is quite simple. Imagine a certain oscillatory system, the same pendulum in a vibrating state, and then move it, without stopping the oscillatory process, to another place, and you will get a wave phenomenon. In a word, a process can be called a wave, during which oscillations move from one place to another.

The difference in the nature of oscillations from waves can also be traced to the example of their mathematical reflection. Oscillations and waves, the formulas of which are different from each other, are expressed in this way.

Oscillations in the simplest form are characterized by indicators of the number of oscillations, their frequency and the time of one oscillatory cycle. The relationship formula for these parameters is as follows: f = 1 / T, where n is the number of oscillations, T is the period of time during which the oscillation process takes place. If more detailed description of the oscillation phenomena is needed, additional parameters are used. So, for example, if we are considering cyclic type oscillations, we will need an indicator: phase (j) is a quantity that indicates which part of the oscillation has already occurred since the beginning of the whole process, the cyclic frequency (w), the amplitude (A) showing the maximum deviation System from the initial state. The formula for this harmonic process then takes the form: f = A sin j, or A = f / sin j.

Taking into account that the main factor of difference between the wave and the wave is the displacement value, in the simplest form, the wave phenomenon can be reflected by the formula: S = A · sin ω x (t - x / v), where S is the wave displacement, v is the displacement velocity (Wave velocity), and ω is the angular frequency.

In the sciences that deal with the study of vibrational-wave processes, it is customary to separately consider mechanical waves and oscillations and Electromagnetic. This is due to the fact that electromagnetic waves propagate in special media and are characterized by the fact that, during propagation, they transfer the energy of the vibrational pulse without transferring the very substance (system) that makes this oscillation. First of all, an example here can be a variety of fields: electrical, electromagnetic, radio waves, radiation of various types.

As has been said, oscillations and waves in theory are treated separately, but this does not mean that they are isolated in nature and those technologies that are created by man. The most vivid example here may be the application of vibrational-wave processes in radar. The radiating station sends a wave oscillating signal with a predetermined frequency to an object that moves at a certain time. The wave attains this object at a different moment in time, but is reflected and arrives at the receiving station (module) - in the third. That is, between the premise of the wave and its reception, a certain time interval is formed, which characterizes the movement of the object in space. Knowing the time delay of the wave and the distance, you can determine the speed of the moving object with great accuracy, as well as its location. And, the smaller the wavelength, the more precise the location definitions.

In modern technologies, oscillations and waves are increasingly used. All known computer processor is nothing more than an oscillatory system, in which several hundred million transistors are concluded performing computational operations following the example of oscillatory ones in the binary system . The speed of such oscillatory systems is extremely large and is measured in gigahertz. Such data can be read by any user by opening the "My Computer - System Properties" window.