Waves

Question 1

Name three different types of wave.

Answer 1

any three from: light, sound, waves on water, seismic waves

Question 2

What property of a wave does the wavelength describe?

Answer 2

the distance from one wave to the same place on the next wave

Question 3

What are the units for wavelength?

Answer 3

metres

Question 4

What property of a wave does the frequency describe?

Answer 4

the number of waves per second

Question 5

What are the units for frequency?

Answer 5

hertz

Question 6

What is transferred by a wave?

Answer 6

energy

Question 7

What does amplitude mean?

Answer 7

the height of a wave – more correctly, the maximum displacement of a particle from its rest position

Question 8

In which direction do the particles in a sound wave move compared to the direction the wave is travelling?

Answer 8

backwards and forwards in the same direction as the wave

Question 9

What word is used to describe waves like sound waves?

Answer 9

longitudinal

Question 10

What word is used to describe waves like the waves on water?

Answer 10

transverse

Question 11

Name a type of transverse wave.

Answer 11

waves on water, some seismic waves, light waves

Question 12

Name one thing that waves do not transfer.

Answer 12

matter

Question 13

Name a type of longitudinal wave.

Answer 13

sound, some seismic waves

Question 14

What word describes the time taken for one wave to pass?

Answer 14

period

Question 15

Name two things that waves can transfer.

Answer 15

energy and information

Question 16

What word describes the distance between a point on one wave and the same point on the next wave?

Answer 16

wavelength

Question 17

What is the difference between longitudinal and transverse waves?

Answer 17

the direction the particles move compared to the direction the wave is travelling

Question 18

What is the difference between speed and velocity?

Answer 18

velocity has a direction as well as a magnitude

Question 19

What word describes the number of waves per second?

Answer 19

frequency

Question 20

What is the equation that links speed, distance and time?

Answer 20

speed = distance/time, or any rearrangements of it

Question 21

What is the equation that links wave speed, frequency and wavelength?

Answer 21

wave speed = frequency × wavelength

Question 22

What two things do you need to measure to find the speed of a wave?

Answer 22

either the time to cover a certain distance, or the wavelength and the frequency

Question 23

Describe the path of light when you watch TV.

Answer 23

TV to eye

Question 24

Describe the path of light when you sit underneath a lamp and read a book.

Answer 24

lamp to book to eye

Question 25

What is the word that describes light bouncing off a material?

Answer 25

reflection

Question 26

What does refraction mean?

Answer 26

changing the direction of a wave

Question 27

When does refraction happen to light waves?

Answer 27

when light goes into or out of a material

Question 28

Name three materials that light can travel through.

Answer 28

any three transparent materials, such as air, glass, water, Perspex

Question 29

Why is it difficult to see the exact positions of objects on the bottom of a swimming pool?

Answer 29

light is refracted as it leaves the water

Question 30

What is an interface?

Answer 30

boundary between two materials

Question 31

What is a normal line?

Answer 31

a line at right angles to a surface/interface/boundary

Question 32

Describe the path of a light ray in air.

Answer 32

straight line

Question 33

What happens to light when it goes from air to glass?

Answer 33

refracts/changes direction/H changes speed

Question 34

When light goes from air to glass, which way does it bend?

Answer 34

towards the normal

Question 35

When light goes from water to air, which way does it bend?

Answer 35

away from the normal

Question 36

H In which material does light travel faster, water or air?

Answer 36

air

Question 37

What happens to the speed of waves as they go into shallower water?

Answer 37

slow down

Question 38

What does transmit mean?

Answer 38

when a wave passes through something

Question 39

What does reflect mean?

Answer 39

when a wave bounces off something

Question 40

What is the word used to describe a wave bouncing off a barrier?

Answer 40

reflection

Question 41

What is the word to describe a wave changing direction as it crosses a boundary?

Answer 41

refraction

Question 42

What is absorption?

Answer 42

when a wave disappears as it reaches a boundary

Question 43

What is transmission?

Answer 43

when a wave passes through a material

Question 44

Name a substance that is good at transmitting light.

Answer 44

air / glass

Question 45

Name a substance that is good at absorbing light.

Answer 45

anything black/dark coloured

Question 46

How can a prism split up white light into different colours?

Answer 46

Different colours are refracted by different amounts.

Question 47

What happens to the wavelength of light when it goes from air to glass?

Answer 47

it gets shorter

Question 48

Name three parts of the ear

Answer 48

any three from: ear canal, eardrum, bones, cochlea, auditory nerve

Question 49

What type of wave is a sound wave?

Answer 49

longitudinal

Question 50

How does a sound wave pass from air into a solid?

Answer 50

The wave causes pressure changes at the surface of the solid.

Question 51

What is the first part of the ear that sound waves go through?

Answer 51

ear canal

Question 52

What does the eardrum do?

Answer 52

It vibrates when sound waves reach it/passes on vibrations.

Question 53

What do the ear bones do?

Answer 53

They amplify vibrations and transmit them.

Question 54

Which part of the ear converts vibrations to nerve impulses?

Answer 54

cochlea

Question 55

State two things found within the cochlea.

Answer 55

two from: fluid, membrane, hair cells

Question 56

Why do different parts of the cochlea membrane detect different frequencies?

Answer 56

thickness of the membrane varies

Question 57

What is the highest frequency that most people can hear?

Answer 57

20 000 Hz

Question 58

What is the name for sound that is too high for humans to hear?

Answer 58

ultrasound

Question 59

What is ultrasound?

Answer 59

sound too high for humans to hear

Question 60

How do bats use ultrasound?

Answer 60

detect insects using ultrasound echoes/navigation

Question 61

What is sonar?

Answer 61

a way of measuring distance underwater using ultrasound

Question 62

Why is light not used to find the depth of water?

Answer 62

Water absorbs the light.

Question 63

What measurement does sonar equipment need to be able to work out the depth?

Answer 63

time between sending pulse and receiving echo

Question 64

What is the formula used to work out the depth from the timing of a sonar pulse?

Answer 64

distance = speed x time

Question 65

What is an ultrasound scan?

Answer 65

image of the inside of the body made using ultrasound

Question 66

Why can ultrasound be used to make images of the inside of the body?

Answer 66

Some ultrasound is reflected each time it goes into a different material.

Question 67

What is the name for sounds that are too low for humans to hear?

Answer 67

infrasound