What are waves?

Waves are like ripples in a pond when you throw a pebble into it, they move across water or air without the whole thing moving all at once.

Imagine you're on a trampoline. When you jump, you make it go up and down. That motion travels outwards, even though the trampoline itself doesn’t move far from where you are. Waves work like that too, they carry energy, but not the actual stuff they’re moving through.

If you shake a blanket up and down while holding one end, it moves in a pattern: up, down, up, down. That’s similar to how waves behave on water. You can see these patterns as bumps and dips, just like the ones you might feel if you're walking across a bumpy road.

Waves don’t need something solid to move through, they can go through air, water, or even space! Think of it like when you send a message by tapping on your friend’s shoulder. The tap travels from one person to the next without either of you moving very far. Waves are like ripples in a pond when you throw a pebble into it, they move across water or air without the whole thing moving all at once.

Imagine you're on a trampoline. When you jump, you make it go up and down. That motion travels outwards, even though the trampoline itself doesn’t move far from where you are. Waves work like that too, they carry energy, but not the actual stuff they’re moving through.