Wave Motion
A traveling wave carries a changing pattern and transfers energy through space. In a mechanical wave, the medium's particles usually oscillate around equilibrium rather than traveling with the wave itself.
What actually moves when a wave travels?
The wave pattern moves with a propagation speed. For a transverse mechanical wave, individual particles move up and down locally while the crest pattern advances horizontally.
Amplitude controls displacement scale; frequency and wavelength combine with speed.
Change the wave and keep every representation synchronized.
A crest at one location is replaced by another crest later. Tracking equal phase points reveals the wave speed.
In this transverse model, sample particles move perpendicular to propagation. They do not ride the crest across the whole domain.
If the medium fixes wave speed, increasing frequency packs more cycles into the same distance, so wavelength decreases.
Maximum displacement from equilibrium in this wave variable. Larger amplitude changes the scale, not the wavelength.
Spatial repeat distance between equal-phase points such as neighboring crests.
Number of oscillation cycles per second at one location. Period is its reciprocal.