If a wave can travel through mediums like air, water, strings, rocks, etc., then it makes sense that as the wave moves through these mediums, the tiny particles that make up the medium will also vibrate. In order for this to happen, the medium has to have a way for energy (both potential and kinetic) to be stored, so the medium has both inertia and elasticity.
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The wave equation for a stretched spring is:

where the first letter v is for velocity, μ is the linear density of the string, and the tension is τ.

You can’t send a wave along a straight string without stretching the string. The tension in the string that does the stretching is the elasticity of the string that stores the potential energy as the wave passes through. The amount of tension in the rope will affect the wave speed. The wave speed doesn’t change if you change the frequency, however it will travel faster through a tighter rope.

This means that the speed of the wave depends on the medium, and not the wave itself. For example, waves travel faster through solid rock than they do through air because the particles in the medium are much closer together and can transmit the wave faster.

Here’s the power part of the video above explained in more detail:

Click here to go to next lesson on Behavior of Waves

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