transeverse waves cannot be transmitted.......................?

Question

inside the liquids or gases coz they do not posses cohesion.

longitudinal waves can be transmitted inside the liquids or gases coz they posses volume elasticity.


what does it mean?

Answer 1

Moving a thin flat plate parallel to its surface in the water doesn't make waves perpendicular to the plate. Actually, I think "rigidity", "sheer strength" or "sheer modulus" would explain it better than "cohesion". It is the property of a solid to hold its shape by preventing molecules from sliding past one another within the solid.

By the way, electromagnetic waves are transverse; so if there is an ether, it must be a solid. So said James Clerk Maxwell.

Volume elasticity is efficient compressibility. Even though water is said to be non-compressible, it actually does compress and relax an almost immeasurable amount. It transmits longitudinal waves because there is no energy loss as the waves pass thru the water.

Answer 2

Barbie doll

there are two types of waves
transverse and longitudinal
a wave is really just a transmission of energy through some material

in transverse waves, the material moves up and down and the wave travels left or right. In a gas, if a molecule goes up or down, it is not "attached" (ie no cohesion) to any other molecule, so the wave cannot move.

for a longitudinal wave, the matter moves left and right and the wave moves left OR right. now in a gas, if a molecule moves left, it can hit another molecule and hence transmit the energy of the wave.

hope that helps