Mechanical Waves VS Simple Harmonic Motion

Mechanical Waves 

Mechanical waves is the waves that require a medium in order to transport their energy from one location to another. The medium could be air/ solid/liquid.

When we talk about waves, we'll actually discuss on 2 things. The first one is the wave itself, and the second one is the particles that move/vibrate because of the existence of the wave. The equation of wave is represented by

  y (x,t) = A sin (wt ± kx)

and if you could recall Simple Harmonic Motion, its equation is

  x (t) = A sin (wt )

where both are having the same pattern of equation, however there is an additional term in wave equation that is ± kx. So for your information, + kx  is telling us that the wave propagates to the right while -kx is for the leftward wave motion  . w is the angular velocity of the vibrating particle.

Particle vibration in SHM

Particle vibration & Wave propagation

As you can see in both figures above, there are particles vibrating up and down that is represented by y. y is representing the displacement of particle (both SHM & Waves). We can conclude here that when waves propagate, at the same time there will be a particle's vibration. Particle here is actually the molecules of the water for example.

Thank you,

Mdm Ummi Atiah KMPk

~ May it Benefits You ➽💕