P1 - Waves Flashcards
What do waves transfer?
Energy and information
In a transverse waves the oscillation is ____________ to the direction of travel
Perpendicular
In a longitudinal wave the oscillation is _______________ to the direction of travel
Parallel
Can mechanical waves travel through a vacuum
No
They need particles to transfer
What type of waves are longitudinal
Sound
Slinky
Seismic waves (p waves)
What is the wavelength equal to?
A) amplitude
B) one complete wave
C) frequency
B
The greater the amplitude the __________ the energy
Greater
What is the frequency of a wave
How many wave crests pass a point in one second.
How to calculate the speed of a wave
V = f X wavelength
V - wave speed (m/s)
F - Frequency (hz)
Wavelength - wavelength (m)
What’s the wavelength of a longitudinal wave?
Middle of one compression to the next
How do mirrors work
Due to the reflection of light
Which Ray goes into the plane mirror, which comes away and where do you draw the normal
Incident
Reflected
Perpendicular to the mirror where the incident Ray hit
The angle of incidence and reflection are where
Between the Ray of incidence and the normal and vise versa
The angle of reflection and incidence are ____________
Equal
Name four properties of images in a plane mirror
Virtual
Upright
The same size as the object
The same distance as the object from the mirror
What’s the difference between a real and virtual image?
Real images can be formed on a screen because the rays of light that produce the image actually pass through it and virtual images cannot be formed on a screen because the Rays only appear to pass through it
What is refraction?
When waves cross a boundary between two substances they change speed and direction. The wavelength changes but the frequency stays the same.
What type of waves undergo refraction
All waves
When light enters a boundary that is more dense what happens
Slows down and goes closer to the normal
When light enters a less dense substance what happens
Speeds up and changes direction away from the normal
If the wave is travelling along the normal and crosses a boundary what happens
Continues down the normal
What is dispersion
When light rays are shone onto a triangular glass prism we can see a colour spectrum because each colour has different wavelengths.
Which colours are refracted the most and least
Violet light is refracted the most
Red light is refracted the least
What is diffraction and what waves does it occur in
The spreading of waves as they pass through a gap or around an obstacle, property of all waves
