What are waves?

# Introduction

When thinking about waves you may first think of ocean waves. These are a great example of a wave as they are regular, repeating movements of water and a wave may be defined as a periodic, or regularly repeating, disturbance that transports energy from one place to another. In this short course you will discover the difference between transverse and longitudinal waves and gain an understanding of the properties of waves. You will gain an understanding of the process of echolocation and then undertake some online research to discover how bats use echolocation to locate their prey. You will also learn how waves are utilised in healthcare for ultrasound scanning.

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course S111 Questions in science .

OpenLearn - What are waves?
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