In physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

, a wave is a disturbance (an oscillation) that travels through space

Space

Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...

 and time

Time

Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....

, accompanied by the transfer of energy

Energy

In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

.

Waves travel and the wave motion transfers energy

Energy

In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

 from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium—that is, with little or no associated mass transport. They consist, instead, of oscillation

Oscillation

Oscillation is the repetitive variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value or between two or more different states. Familiar examples include a swinging pendulum and AC power. The term vibration is sometimes used more narrowly to mean a mechanical oscillation but sometimes...

s or vibrations around almost fixed locations. For example, a cork on rippling water

Capillary wave

A capillary wave is a wave traveling along the phase boundary of a fluid, whose dynamics are dominated by the effects of surface tension.Capillary waves are common in nature and the home, and are often referred to as ripples...

 will bob up and down, staying in about the same place while the wave itself moves onwards.

One type of wave is a mechanical wave, which propagates through a medium in which the substance of this medium is deformed.