Question

Why can't transverse waves travel through gases and liquids?

Answer 1

see light is a transverse wave and it can travel through gas an liquid

Answer 2

I am sorry I should have stated that I meant mechanical transverse waves :(

Answer 3

ok in mechanical wave i think maybe its because they dont rigidity

Answer 4

*have rigidity

Answer 5

ok i'm confused at this one

Answer 6

maybe u have smthng to tell..

Answer 7

um actually no :p i mean, i did google it and found that it's because solids have elastic rigidity but I don't understand how that's related to the waves

Answer 8

evn i cant understand it sry

Answer 9

no problem :)

Answer 10

A transverse wave propagates in a solid because each atom of the solid has an "equilibrium location" where the forces on it from all its neighboring atoms balance. If one atom gets pulled out of its equilibrium location by a disturbance, it will tend to be pulled back to that location. However, when it's out of its equilibrium location it pulls its neighbors out of their equilibrium locations too, and so on down the line; the end result is that a transverse wave disturbance propagates through the material.

In fluids (liquids and gases), atoms have no "equilibrium location"; they can move freely past each other. So if one atom gets moved by a disturbance, there's no restoring force to pull it back to its equilibrium location, because there is no equilibrium location. Instead, as DaTario said, each atom is driven by the forces of neighboring atoms to maintain a given average distance between itself and its neighbors, but nothing else; so if one atom is disturbed, it will move to restore its average distance to its neighbors (and they will move in turn in response to the first one moving), but the atom won't be in the same place it was before when it's done equilibrating again. This allows longitudinal waves to propagate in fluids, but not transverse waves.

Answer 11

So another way to say that is that they do not support shear forces - a shear force just causes the medium to flow.... now - how do you explain water waves which certainly have transverse components

Answer 12

Tell me =/