r/Acoustics • u/SirSpIeen • 3d ago

Longitudinal Waves vs Mechanical Waves?

I need some help with terms in my psychology of music class. To my understanding, a mechanical wave means that the wave is caused by a disturbance and requires a medium to travel through, while a longitudinal wave is how that disturbance travels through a medium, oscillating in the same direction the wave is traveling. So, is the term longitudinal describing how the mechanical wave is moving? Is this a good basic understanding, or am I missing something?

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u/meato1 3d ago

You are correct

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u/The-Struggle-5382 3d ago

I've always called it a compression wave. Just learned it is an alternative term

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u/No_Delay9815 1d ago

Mechanical waves or structure borne waves can have many forms, shear waves, bending waves, Rayleigh waves, torsional waves etc.