Today in class we did a lab with slinkys. The point of the lab was to determine which wave traveled faster, a transverse (s for secondary or shear) or a longitudinal (p for primary) wave. We used stop watches to time how long it took the waves to move from one partner and reach the next. The lab also provided a good visual for how both waves move. Secondary waves are slower than primary waves; they will hit a city after the primary wave has. Secondary waves move perpendicular to the direction of motion of the wave. In the lab, swinging your arms right to left created the snake-like s waves.
Primary waves arrive to a city first; they are faster than secondary waves. Primary waves move back and forth, in the same direction of motion of the wave. In the lab, one partner grabbed a bunch of slinky and compressed it, and then let the compressed slinky go. These waves were harder to see.
After the lab we got our volcano tests back. We also got another hand out on the two different types of waves along with a packet for our next project. In the project we will be making a tower that can withstand an "earthquake". The homework for the night was just to read over the packet.
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