vibration

Everyday

1. A quick small shaking movement backwards and forwards. tree →
2. In science, a movement that makes sound or travels through a material. tree →

In the lessons

In science, sound is made by vibrations that travel through air, water or solids to our ears; louder sounds have bigger vibrations and higher sounds have faster vibrations. In everyday life you feel vibrations from trains, music or a buzzing phone. Earthquakes send vibrations through the ground. Phrases: feel the vibration, sound vibrations, vibration of the string.

Examples

• I felt the vibration of the train through the floor. tree →
• Sound is caused by vibrations. tree →
• The earthquake's vibrations shook the houses. tree →
• Faster vibrations give a higher pitch. tree →
• The phone's vibration woke me up. tree →
• Snakes can feel vibrations in the ground. tree →

Note

Countable: a vibration, vibrations; sometimes uncountable for the general idea. Comes from "vibrate". In science: bigger vibration = louder; faster vibration = higher pitch.