Characteristics of wave motion:
(i) Wave motion is a form of disturbance travelling in the medium due to the periodic motion of the particles about their mean position.
(ii) It is necessary that the medium should possess elasticity and inertia.
(iii) All the particles of the medium do not receive the disturbance at the same instant (i.e) each particle begins to vibrate a little later than its predecessor.
(iv) The wave velocity is different from the particle velocity. The velocity of a wave is constant for a given medium, whereas the velocity of the particles goes on changing and it becomes maximum in their mean position and zero in their extreme positions.
(v) During the propagation of wave motion, there is the transfer of energy from one particle to another without any actual transfer of the particles of the medium.
(vi) The waves undergo reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference.
