Watch the following video to see an example of oscillatory motion.

In the last section, you studied the basics of waves. In the next two sections, you will look at some of the key properties of waves.

Take a moment to watch the following video. As you are watching the video, record your own observations and answers below in your notes. (Note: You may consider watching the video more than one time.)

1. Watch one ball as it moves and describe its movement.

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   The ball swings back and forth between two points.

2. Watch the second and fourth ball throughout the video. Describe how they move.

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   At times, the balls are moving in sync with each other but not with the balls next to them.

3. What pattern(s) do you see being formed?

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   The patterns form a curved line.

Now that you have watched the video, take a few moments to answer the following questions.

1. What is the purpose of holding the board up to begin the movement?

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   When the board is released, the balls' energies are transformed from potential gravitational energy to kinetic energy allowing them to begin their swings in unison.

2. How is this like the pendulum of the grandfather clock like the one seen at the beginning of this section?

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   The pendulum on a grandfather clock moves back and forth between two points similar to the billiard balls.

3. How is this similar to the wave you saw in the first section?

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   They move like a wave.

Let’s take a look at wave oscillation described in the video from the previous section.

Based upon the information you have seen in this section, how would you describe wave oscillation?

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Wave oscillation is a movement of a molecule or particle that repeats itself over the same path, a vibration or back and forth motion as a wave passes through the medium.

In the next section, you will look at another wave property, propagation.