Ten students stand in a circle and are told to make a transverse wave. What best describes the motion of the students?

In a transverse wave, the disturbance moves in one direction while the particles move perpendicular to that direction. Here, the wave would travel around the circle as each student takes a turn, while each student’s hands move up and down. That is why lifting and lowering hands one at a time best represents a transverse wave; moving to the right would be motion along the wave’s direction.

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