WAVES

Question 1

what is a wave?

Answer 1

a transfer of energy

Question 2

what is a longitudinal wave?

Answer 2

a wave in which the vibrations travel parallel to the wave direction
e.g. sound waves

Question 3

what is a transverse wave?

Answer 3

a wave in which the vibrations travel perpendicular to the wave direction
e.g. light and radio waves

Question 4

what is the wave called when its bunched up?

Answer 4

compression

Question 5

whats the wave called when its spread out/not bunched up?

Answer 5

rarefraction

Question 6

what is a mechanical wave?

Answer 6

a wave which requires particles e.g. sound wave

Question 7

what is an electromagnetic wave?

Answer 7

a wave which doesn’t require particles

Question 8

what is the wavelength?

Answer 8

the same point on 2 adjacent waves

Question 9

what is frequency?

Answer 9

the number of waves per second

measured in Hz

Question 10

what is period?

Answer 10

the time it takes for 1 wave to pass by

Question 11

how to use a ripple tank?

Answer 11

look at shadows
add pointer and count how many waves pass in 10 seconds
divide by 10
measure distance with ruler
use calculation

Question 12

what happens when sound increases?

Answer 12

amplitude increases which causes the waves to look taller

Question 13

what is the healthy hearing range for humans?

Answer 13

20 - 20,000 Hz

Question 14

what occurs on a rough surface?

Answer 14

diffuse scattering

Question 15

what occurs on a smooth surface?

Answer 15

specular reflection

Question 16

how do sound waves work to hear sounds?

Answer 16

waves enter ear (longitudinal)
sound waves cause ear drum to vibrate
vibrations are turned into electrical signals
electrical signals sent to the brain

Question 17

what happens when a wave enters a more dense material?

Answer 17

bends towards normal line
slows down
wavelength decreases

Question 18

what happens when a wave enters a less dense material?

Answer 18

bends away from normal line

speeds up

Question 19

what is the law in the refraction RP?

Answer 19

angle of incidence = angle or reflection

Question 20

what is an ultrasound?

Answer 20

wave with a higher frequency than the upper limit of humans

Question 21

how do ultrasounds work?

Answer 21

pass ultrasound through material
wave hits boundary and is reflected back
time taken for reflection to reach detector used to produce image

Question 22

what is echo sounding?

Answer 22

high frequency sound

time how long it takes for reflection to reach detector used to measure how deep water is

Question 23

what is an S seismic wave?

Answer 23

transverse

in solids

Question 24

what is a P seismic wave?

Answer 24

longitudinal
liquids + solids
travels faster in solids than liquids