Sound Wave Basics - Video Lesson

Hey, everybody. Welcome to today's lesson on the fundamentals of ultrasound physics. This lesson will focus on the basics of sound waves, which are what create the images in sonography. We will discuss the unique properties of sound waves, how they differ from electromagnetic waves, and how they work to deliver ultrasound images. Let's begin with a quick look at waves. You can think of waves as vehicles that carry many kinds of energy from one place to another. For instance, in radiography, the potential energy in an electric current is transferred to create electromagnetic waves called x rays, which travel from the x-ray tube to an image receptor to create an image. Most waves share the specific properties of wavelength and frequency, which influence the amount of energy they transfer and at what speed. The wavelength is the distance from one crest to another or from one trough to another of a wave. A wave's frequency is the number of