Characteristics of Light Waves:
- Travel faster than sound waves
- Can travel through a vacuum
- Can be polarized
- Have a higher frequency than sound waves
Characteristics of Sound Waves:
- Require a medium to travel through (such as air, water, or solids)
- Travel slower than light waves
- Can be reflected, refracted, and diffracted
- Have a lower frequency than light waves
Common Characteristics of Light and Sound Waves:
- Both are forms of energy
- Both exhibit wave properties such as reflection and interference.
Students are developing a model called a Venn diagram to compare light and sound waves. In a Venn diagram, there are three sections. One section of the Venn diagram made by the students needs to show the characteristics of light waves, and the other section should contain characteristics of sound waves. The middle section that shows overlapping circles represents the characteristics that these two types of waves have in common. The students' partially completed model is shown below.
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