Edit Article wiki How to Understand Quantum Physics. Eight Parts Planck constant Novel ideas Particle and wave duality Uncertainty Wave function Schrdinger. Longitudinal and Transverse Wave Motion. Mechanical Waves are waves which propagate through a material medium solid, liquid, or gas at a wave speed which depends on. Longitudinal and Transverse Wave Motion. Another example of waves with both longitudinal and transverse motion may be found in solids as Rayleigh surface waves named after John W. Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh who first studied them in 1. The particles in a solid, through which a Rayleigh surface wave passes, move in elliptical paths, with the major axis of the ellipse perpendicular to the surface of the solid. Lyle Lovett Step Inside This House Rar. As the depth into the solid increases the width of the elliptical path decreases. Rayleigh waves in an elastic solid are different from surface waves in water in a very important way. In a water wave all particles travel in clockwise circles. CzJjJ.gif' alt='Wave Function Physics' title='Wave Function Physics' />However, in a Rayleigh surface wave, particles at the surface trace out a counter clockwise ellipse, while particles at a depth of more than 15th of a wavelength trace out clockwise ellispes. This motion is often referred to as being retrograde since at the surface, the horizontal component of the particle motion is in the opposite direction as the wave propagation direction. I have identified two particles in orange in this animation to illustrate the retrograde elliptical path at the surface and the reversal in the direction of motion as a function of depth. The Rayleigh surface waves are the waves that cause the most damage during an earthquake. They travel with velocities slower than S waves, and arrive later, but with much greater amplitudes. These are also the waves that are most easily felt during an earthquake and involve both up down and side to side motion. Update Aug. 5, 2. Thanks to Dongyao Li graduate student at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign who asked questions resulting in a much improved version of this animation.