I was just wondering if anyone could explain what exactly is a wave for a beginner
I'm not sure if the wave is like a tangible thing? Or is it like an effect of something else.
And I'm confused by how waves are related to the particles in the medium around them? Does the wave cause the movement of particles?
A "wave" is a mathematical concept, but they can become realized in many many different physical forms, and it can become overwhelming, I think it's best to focus on a more mathematical definition of a "wave", and then you can apply this to physical scenarios when you see fit. All you need to know is:
A wave can be thought of as some sort of a disturbance that retains it's shape as it propogates (travels) through space. Mathematically this is written as:
$$f(z,t) = f(z-vt,0)$$
Where $f$ is the function describing the wave, $z$ is the direction in which the wave is propagating, $v$ is the waves velocity and $t$ is time. Take a while to convince yourself why this equation defines a wave.
This sounds like a lousy definition but it is mathematically accurate, and it really is all you need to define a wave in the general sesnse, and personally, I think it's quite beautiful.
If you study further you will learn that a wave is actually anything that when described mathematically, produces a solution a to the wave equation, which is a second order differential equation.
But this equation isn't really saying anything different to what I put in italics.
Waves can be explained as transmission of energy from one place to another.
Now, waves can be of 2 types, one that requires a medium, another one Don't.
Your question about the particles is related to the 1st type.these kinds of waves can be described as:
Transmission of energy though a medium in which it requires the particles of the medium to oscillate(without permanently changing their place). In other words, the oscillation of the particles is wave itself.
Suppose you pick a guitar string, as the string vibrates, the air particle near it also starts to vibrate and the vibration of that particle triggers other particles near it to vibrate as well, thus a chain reaction starts energy is transmitted though the vibration of air, and this is how sound(wave) works.
Wave is a tangible thing: As sound is a wave, and your ears can hear it is the proof of the tangibility of a wave.
Okay. Simply speaking, waves are energy disturbances.
Imagine a flat flexible plane, like a stretched out cloth. Now, you prod the cloth, thus transfering energy to it. This can be seen in the form of a wave that goes across the clothing. If you continually prod the cloth, you see a collection of waves. Basically what you are seeing there are disturbances in the flat plane. Now, just so you understand better, waves have a few defining properties like frequence, amplitude and wavelength. These may seem complicated but really, they are very easy to relate to.
-> Frequency can be said as the number of waves per unit time. Or how frequent waves are being produced.
-> Amplitude is the height of an individual wave.
-> Wavelength is the distance between a single crest and a trough.
A crest and a trough are the parts of a wave.
Waves can be of two types, mechanical and electromagnetic. Mechanical waves require medium to traverse like sound in air, while electromagnetic waves do not need medium, like radio waves in space.
Also you're right, waves do cause disturbances of particles around them. To imagine this, think of a dusty pillow. When you hit it, you create a wave across is, thus dispersing the dust.
In physics, a wave is the propagation of energy without material transport. There are longitudinal waves and transverse waves. The first oscillates in the direction of propagation (sound), the second oscillates perpendicular to it. It should be noted that the one occurs without the other only in an idealized state. For example, even when your speech propagates through the inside of a pipe, pressure is exerted on the pipe wall (longitudinal component) in addition to the transverse direction.
Mechanical waves require a medium. This can be a piece of metal, a stretched animal skin or a liquid. Electromagnetic radiation, which is emitted by a wave generator as an electromagnetic wave (radio wave), is also of great interest. In contrast to mechanical waves, this wave does not require a medium and only propagates undisturbed in a vacuum. EM waves are longitudinal waves and have a magnetic and an electric field component, which are perpendicular to each other and both change their intensity and direction periodically perpendicular to the direction of propagation.
See furthermore what are photons, EM radiation and EM waves
