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wave, in physics

(Encyclopedia)wave, in physics, the transfer of energy by the regular vibration, or oscillatory motion, either of some material medium or by the variation in magnitude of the field vectors of an electromagnetic fie...

phase, in physics

(Encyclopedia)phase, in physics: see wave.

period, in physics

(Encyclopedia)period, in physics: see harmonic motion; wave. ...

wave, in the earth sciences

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Diagram of wave: Wave travels one wavelength during one period B. Diagram of wave: Phase relationships wave, in oceanography, an oscillating movement up and down, of a body of water caused ...

ether, in physics and astronomy

(Encyclopedia)ether or aether, in physics and astronomy, a hypothetical medium for transmitting light and heat (radiation), filling all unoccupied space; it is also called luminiferous ether. In Newtonian physics a...

physics

(Encyclopedia)physics, branch of science traditionally defined as the study of matter, energy, and the relation between them; it was called natural philosophy until the late 19th cent. and is still known by this na...

contraction, in physics

(Encyclopedia)contraction, in physics: see expansion. ...

dispersion, in physics

(Encyclopedia)dispersion, in physics: see spectrum. ...

shock wave

(Encyclopedia)shock wave, wave formed of a zone of extremely high pressure within a fluid, especially the atmosphere, that propagates through the fluid at a speed in excess of the speed of sound. A shock wave is ca...

illumination, in physics

(Encyclopedia)illumination, in physics: see lighting; photometry. ...