GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -P waves are also known as compressional waves, because they push and pull. Particles subjected to a P wave move in the same direction that the wave is moves in; it is the direction that the energy is traveling in, sometimes called the “direction of wave propagation.”

Detailed explanation-2: -Mechanical longitudinal waves are also called compressional or compression waves, because they produce compression and rarefaction when traveling through a medium, and pressure waves, because they produce increases and decreases in pressure.

Detailed explanation-3: -Compressional waves are also called P-Waves, (P stands for “primary") because they are always the first to arrive. They gave us the first jolt last Friday. Shear waves propagate more slowly through the Earth than compressional waves and arrive second, hence their name S-or secondary waves.

Detailed explanation-4: -The P wave, or primary wave, is the fastest of the three waves and the first detected by seismographs. They are able to move through both liquid and solid rock. P waves, like sound waves, are compressional waves, which means that they compress and expand matter as they move through it.

Detailed explanation-5: -There are two types of seismic waves, primary waves and secondary waves. Primary waves, also known as P waves or pressure waves, are longitudinal compression waves similar to the motion of a slinky (SF Fig. 7.1 A). Secondary waves, or S waves, are slower than P waves.