What happens when the wave you are watching in the lake gets to the edge of the lake and hits the rocky cliff that is bordering one side? What happens when the wave in the rope you are creating gets to the edge of the rope? How does it differ if the rope is tied to something or if it’s just an open end? These questions are all answered when we look at wave reflection. When a wave gets to the edge of a medium, it is turned back in some way, depending on whether the end is fixed or not. The different things that can happen to waves when they are reflected is very interesting!
We have been describing waves that you can see. There are many kinds of waves that cannot be seen with the human eye. Many of them we use in our everyday lives. Examples of the use of such waves include radio waves and light rays. You will learn more about these waves when you learn about the light spectrum.
In the sketch below the green transverse wave is the original wave that hit the object. The red wave is the wave that is reflected back.
