Amplitude (GCSE Physics)
Amplitude
Describing Wave Motion
For exams, you must be able to use various terms to describe the motion of waves. We will begin with the amplitude.
Often you will need to look at the wave shapes of sounds from diagrams showing oscilloscope traces. Oscilloscopes are machines which show the wave shape of an electrical signal.
A microphone can be connected to an oscilloscope, where the longitudinal sound wave is displayed as a transverse wave, showing how the wave changes with time.
Amplitude
The amplitude of a wave is the distance from the midpoint of the wave all the way to the crest of the wave, as shown on the diagram below.
Alternatively, the amplitude of a wave can be measured as the distance from the midpoint of the wave all the way to the trough of the wave. Therefore, the amplitude of a wave is the maximum displacement (crest or trough) of a point on a wave away from its undisturbed position (the midpoint). The larger the amplitude, the louder the sound is.
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