Wave impedance

Wave impedance is like a resistance that waves feel when they travel through something. Just like when you push a ball through water – it gets harder to push as you go deeper, and the water's resistance slows the ball down.

So, wave impedance is like how hard it is for waves to travel through something. It's a measure of how much the wave is "blocked" by the thing it's traveling through.

For example, imagine you are waving a rope up and down. If the rope is thin and light, it won't be too hard for the waves to travel through it. But if the rope is thick and heavy, it will be harder for the waves to move through it.

Wave impedance is also affected by the type of wave. Some waves, like sound waves, travel better through air. Others, like radio waves, travel better through space.

So, think of wave impedance like a kind of resistance that affects how waves move through different things. It's like trying to run through mud versus running on a road – the resistance in the mud slows you down, just like wave impedance slows down the waves.