Answer to Question #157713 in Mechanics | Relativity for Samir khan

Question

What is a vibration and how does it make mechanical wave? 

Answer 1

A mechanical wave is a wave that depends on the oscillation of matter, meaning that it transfers energy through a medium to propagate. These waves require an initial energy input that then travels through the medium until the initial energy is effectively transferred. Examples of mechanical waves in nature include water waves, sound waves, seismic waves and internal water waves, which occur due to density differences in a body of water. There are three types of mechanical waves: transverse waves, longitudinal waves, and surface waves.

Why is sound a mechanical wave? Sound waves move through air by displacing air particles in a chain reaction. As one particle is displaced from its equilibrium position, it pushes or pulls on neighboring molecules, causing them to be displaced from their equilibrium. As particles continue to displace one another with mechanical vibrations, the disturbance is transported throughout the medium. These particle-to-particle, mechanical vibrations of sound conductance qualify sound waves as mechanical waves. Sound energy, or energy associated with the vibrations created by a vibrating source, requires a medium to travel, which makes sound energy a mechanical wave.