Longitudinal wave and seismic P-waves (created by earthquakes and explosions). In longitudinal waves, the displacement of the medium is parallel to the propagation of the wave, and waves can be either straight or round. A wave along the length of a stretched Slinky toy, where the distance between coils increases and decreases, is a good visualization. In the case of longitudinal harmonic sound waves, the frequency and wavelength can be described by the formula where: The quantity "x"/"c" is the time that the wave takes to travel the distance "x". The ordinary frequency ("f") of the wave is given by The wavelength
Internal wave horizontally. The dispersion relation for such waves is curious: For a freely-propagating internal wave packet, the direction of propagation of energy (group velocity) is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of wave crests and troughs (phase velocity). An internal wave may also become confined to a finite region of altitude or depth, as a result of varying stratification or wind. Here, the wave is said to be "ducted" or "trapped", and a vertically standing wave may form, where the vertical component of group velocity approaches zero. A ducted internal wave "mode" may propagate horizontally, with parallel group and phase velocity