Table of Contents
What is push-pull waves earthquakes?
Seismic waves travel throughout the Earth. The P wave can be described as a push-pull wave, because it moves by contracting and expanding material along a horizontal path. A P-wave travels through a material as a compressional force. The second major type of seismic wave is called an S-wave. S-waves are shear waves.
What is the back and forth movement caused by an earthquake?
Waves that emanate from the site of the quake inside the earth are called body waves. The first of these are known as P waves, for primary or pressure. This is how P waves travel through the earth, moving it back and forth. An earthquake also causes secondary or shear waves, called S waves.
Which seismic wave has a push and pull or back and forth motion?
P waves
P waves, also called primary waves, are compressional waves that arrive at distant locations first and have a push-pull type motion. S waves, also known as secondary waves, are shear waves that arrive after P waves and have a side-to-side motion.
Which waves push and pull?
P waves are also known as compressional waves, because they push and pull. Particles subjected to a P wave move in the same direction that the wave is moves in; it is the direction that the energy is traveling in, sometimes called the “direction of wave propagation.”
What moves back and forth perpendicular to the direction the waves are traveling?
The answer is shear waves. Remind them that in shear waves particles of material move back and forth perpendicular to the direction in which the wave itself moves.
What is the movement of S waves?
S waves shake the ground in a shearing, or crosswise, motion that is perpendicular to the direction of travel. These are the shake waves that move the ground up and down or from side to side. S waves are called secondary waves because they always arrive after P waves at seismic recording stations.
What is the motion of S waves?
S waves produce vertical and horizontal motion in the ground surface. Particle motion consists of alternating transverse motion. Particle motion is perpendicular to the direction of propagation (transverse). Transverse particle motion shown here is vertical but can be in any direction.
What type of waves are earthquakes?
NARRATOR: Earthquakes generate two main types of seismic, or shock, waves: body waves and surface waves. Body waves travel through the interior of the earth. The fastest of these are primary, or “P,” waves. These compressional waves move faster in dense rock and slower in fluids.
Which type of wave is caused by an earthquake?
Push-pull or back and forth wave caused by earthquake. These are faster, first waves. P wave A theory stating that the earth’s surface is broken into plates that move. plate tectonics theory
Why do we feel earthquakes when a fault ruptures?
When the rocks along either side of a fault shift past each other, they send out energy in waves, much like the cannon-baller’s sploosh rippled out. And like those waves that go through the pool, the waves of energy caused by the rupture pass through the earth and we feel them as an earthquake.
How do seismic waves move?
There are several different kinds of seismic waves, and they all move in different ways. The two main types of waves are body waves and surface waves. Body waves can travel through the Earth’s inner layers, but surface waves can only move along the surface of the planet like ripples on water.
How does a slinky move in an earthquake?
You’re exerting horizontal force on the Slinky, and you can see it traveling horizontally as parts of the Slinky compress together or spread apart. This is how P waves travel through the earth, moving it back and forth. An earthquake also causes secondary or shear waves, called S waves.