Properties of waves:

When waves travel, they behave in fascinating ways. Reflection happens when a wave bounces back from a surface—like sound echoing in an empty classroom. Refraction occurs when a wave bends while moving from one medium to another, just like light bending when it enters water, which is why a stick in a river appears bent. Diffraction is the spreading of waves around obstacles or through gaps, similar to how you hear music from a room even when the door is partially closed.

Interference happens when two waves meet and combine. When their peaks align, they strengthen each other (constructive interference), but when peaks meet troughs, they cancel out (destructive interference). Superposition is the principle that when waves overlap, the resulting wave is the sum of individual waves. Standing waves form when two identical waves traveling in opposite directions interfere, creating fixed points called nodes where there's no motion.