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This article is about waves in the most general scientific sense. For waves in the ocean, see ocean surface wave. For other uses of wave or waves, see Wave (disambiguation).
Surface waves in water
A wave is a disturbance that propagates through space and time, usually with transference of energy. While a mechanical wave exists in a medium (which on deformation is capable of producing elastic restoring forces), waves of electromagnetic radiation (and probably[1] gravitational radiation) can travel through vacuum, that is, without a medium. Waves travel and transfer energy from one point to another, often with little or no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium (that is, with little or no associated mass transport); instead there are oscillations around almost fixed locations. |
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