Waves in which the direction of media displacement is parallel to the direction of travel

Longitudinal wave

Longitudinal wave

Longitudinal waves are <a href="/en/Wave" title="Wave" class="wl">waves</a> in which the <a href="/en/Vibration" title="Vibration" class="wl">vibration</a> of the medium is parallel ("along") to the direction the wave travels and displacement of the medium is in the same (or opposite) direction of the <a href="/en/Wave_propagation" title="Wave propagation" class="mw-redirect wl">wave propagation</a>. <a href="/en/Mechanical_wave" title="Mechanical wave" class="wl">Mechanical</a> longitudinal waves are also called compressional or compression waves, because they produce <a href="/en/Compression_(physics)" title="Compression (physics)" class="wl">compression</a> and <a href="/en/Rarefaction" title="Rarefaction" class="wl">rarefaction</a> when traveling through a medium, and pressure waves, because they produce increases and decreases in <a href="/en/Pressure" title="Pressure" class="wl">pressure</a>. A wave along the length of a stretched <a href="/en/Slinky" title="Slinky" class="wl">Slinky</a> toy, where the distance between coils increases and decreases, is a good visualization. Real-world examples include sound waves (<a href="/en/Vibration" title="Vibration" class="wl">vibrations</a> in pressure, a particle of displacement, and particle velocity propagated in an <a href="/en/Elasticity_(physics)" title="Elasticity (physics)" class="wl">elastic</a> medium) and seismic <a href="/en/P-wave" title="P-wave" class="mw-redirect wl">P-waves</a> (created by earthquakes and explosions).

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Waves in which the direction of media displacement is parallel to the direction of travel</div>
<figure class="wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Onde_compression_impulsion_1d_30_petit.gif" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Onde_compression_impulsion_1d_30_petit.gif"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Onde_compression_impulsion_1d_30_petit.gif" decoding="async" data-file-width="305" data-file-height="231" data-file-type="bitmap" height="231" width="305" alt="Onde_compression_impulsion_1d_30_petit.gif"></a><figcaption>Plane pressure pulse wave</figcaption></figure>

The other main type of wave is the <a href="/en/Transverse_wave" title="Transverse wave" class="wl">transverse wave</a>, in which the displacements of the medium are at right angles to the direction of propagation. Transverse waves, for instance, describe some bulk sound waves in <a href="/en/Solid" title="Solid" class="wl">solid</a> materials (but not in <a href="/en/Fluids" title="Fluids" class="mw-redirect wl">fluids</a>); these are also called "<a href="/en/Shearing_(physics)" title="Shearing (physics)" class="wl">shear</a> waves" to differentiate them from the (longitudinal) pressure waves that these materials also support.

Longitudinal waves are waves in which the vibration of the medium is parallel to the direction the wave travels and displacement of the medium is in the same direction of the wave propagation. Mechanical longitudinal waves are also called compressional or compression waves, because they produce compression and rarefaction when traveling through a medium, and pressure waves, because they produce increases and decreases in pressure. A wave along the length of a stretched Slinky toy, where the distance between coils increases and decreases, is a good visualization. Real-world examples include sound waves and seismic P-waves . The other main type of wave is the transverse wave, in which the displacements of the medium are at right angles to the direction of propagation. Transverse waves, for instance, describe some bulk sound waves in solid materials ; these are also called "shear waves" to differentiate them from the pressure waves that these materials also support. 