Question

Ten students stand in a circle and are told to make a transverse wave. What best describes the motion of the students?

Each student bumps the shoulder of his or her neighbor.
At the exact time, all students take a step to the right.
The students skip clockwise, going in a circular motion.
One at a time, each student lifts his or her hands up and then down.

Answer 1

One at a time, each student lifts his or her hands up and then down.

Reason: in a transverse wave the medium moves perpendicular to the direction the wave travels. The stadium-style wave is an upward/downward motion of people while the wave travels around the circle; the people themselves don’t move around the circle. The other choices describe longitudinal/simultaneous or actual motion around the circle, not a transverse wave.