Transverse waves move particles side to side rather than push-and-pull.
Evidence
The simplest alternative type of wave is the transverse wave, which occurs on a vibrating guitar string. In a transverse wave, instead of being pushed and pulled toward each other, the golf ball (referred to earlier) is moved from side to side— this causes a lateral disturbance to be propagated due to the forces exerted by the springs on the golf balls, as described earlier. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 98
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Core definition distinguishing transverse from longitudinal wave motion via the particle disturbance direction.
Related
- Shear waves resist deformation via stiffness rather than tension (similarity 0.84)
- Sound waves are longitudinal waves of alternating compression and rarefaction (similarity 0.83)
- Solids support shear forces and thus transversal waves, unlike fluids. (similarity 0.82)
- Bending waves disperse because their wavenumber grows only with the square root of frequency (similarity 0.78)
- Bending waves disperse with frequency, so their waveshape is not preserved (similarity 0.78)
- Longitudinal and shear waves preserve waveshape because phase velocity is frequency-independent (similarity 0.78)
- Transverse shear waves travel at about 60 percent of longitudinal wave speed. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Shear waves resist deformation via stiffness rather than tension
#expands(0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 113