waves

Question 1

What is a transverse wave?

Answer 1

The oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of energy
transfer

Question 2

What is a longitudinal wave?

Answer 2

The oscillations are parallel to the direction of energy
transfer

Question 3

What is amplitude?

Answer 3

The maximum displacement any particle achieves from its undisturbed position

Question 4

What is wavelength?

Answer 4

The distance from two equivalent points on the wave

Question 5

What is frequency?

Answer 5

The number of waves passing a point per second

Question 6

What is a period?

Answer 6

How long it takes for one complete oscillation

Question 7

What is wave speed?

Answer 7

The speed at which the energy is transferred (or the wave moves) through the medium

Question 8

What is the speed of sound measured with?

Answer 8

An oscilloscope

Question 9

What is the relationship between the angle of incidence and reflection?

Answer 9

When a wave is reflected off a surface, the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection

Question 10

What is refraction?

Answer 10

The light slows down and bends towards the normal line

Question 11

What kind of waves are sound waves?

Answer 11

Longitudinal

Question 12

What is the normal range of human hearing?

Answer 12

20Hz to 20kHz

Question 13

What are ultrasound waves?

Answer 13

Sound waves of a very high frequency – above 20,000Hz

Question 14

What are ultrasound waves used for?

Answer 14

pre-natal scanning, detection of kidney stones, tumours, and producing images of damaged ligaments and muscles

Question 15

How do ultrasonic waves react with a boundary?

Answer 15

Ultrasonic waves are partially reflected when they meet a boundary between different materials. The distance of a boundary is calculated by measuring the time taken for the wave to return to the detector and knowing the speed of sound in the medium

Question 16

How are ultrasonic waves used?

Answer 16

Echo sounding, or sonar, uses ultrasonic waves to detect objects in deep water and measuring the depth of water. The time taken between a pulse being sent and the reflection being detected is used to calculate the distance travelled by the sound wave. They use high frequency sound waves

Question 17

What are seismic waves measured with?

Answer 17

A seismometer

Question 18

What are P-Waves?

Answer 18

longitudinal waves and travel through solids and liquids but travel twice as fast as S-waves

Question 19

What are S-Waves?

Answer 19

S-waves are transverse waves and don’t travel
through liquids

Question 20

What are electromagnetic waves?

Answer 20

Transverse waves that transfer energy from the source of the waves to an absorber

Question 21

How fast do electromagnetic waves travel?

Answer 21

They all travel with the speed of light in air or a vacuum

Question 22

What is the order of wavelength (from long to short)?

Answer 22

radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light (red to violet), ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma-ray

Question 23

What are the risks of UV rays?

Answer 23

UV waves can cause skin to age prematurely and increase the risk of skin cancer

Question 24

What are the risks of X-Rays and gamma rays?

Answer 24

X-rays and gamma rays are ionising radiation that can cause
mutation of genes and cancer

Question 25

What are radio waves used for?

Answer 25

television and radio Radio waves have lower frequency and are reflected by the ionosphere

Question 26

What are microwaves used for?

Answer 26

mobile phones, cooking food Microwaves can be transmitted by satellites because they can penetrate the ionosphere

Question 27

What are infrared rays used for?

Answer 27

electrical heaters, cooking food, IR cameras

Question 28

What are visible light rays used for?

Answer 28

fibre optic communications, photography

Question 29

What are ultraviolet rays used for?

Answer 29

energy efficient lamps, sun tanning

Question 30

What are X-rays rays used for?

Answer 30

medical imaging and treatments

Question 31

What are gamma rays used for?

Answer 31

sterilisation, medical imaging

Question 32

What is a convex lens?

Answer 32

a lens that is thicker in the middle than at its edges

Question 33

What is a concave lens?

Answer 33

a lens that is thinner in the middle than at the edges

Question 34

What is a virtual image?

Answer 34

A virtual image cannot be projected onto a screen

Question 35

What image is does a convex lens produce?

Answer 35

either real or virtual

Question 36

What image is does a concave lens produce?

Answer 36

virtual

Question 37

What colour does an object appear if all wavelengths are reflected?

Answer 37

White

Question 38

What colour does an object appear if all wavelengths are absorbed?

Answer 38

black

Question 39

What is specular reflection?

Answer 39

Reflection from a smooth surface in a single direction

Question 40

What is diffuse reflection?

Answer 40

Reflection from a rough surface causes scattering

Question 41

What determines the colour of an opaque object?

Answer 41

Which wavelengths of light are more strongly reflected

Question 42

What does the rate at which an object emits radiation depend on?

Answer 42

The nature of the surface and on its temperature - As temperature increases the amount of radiation an object emits increases, but the intensity of shorter wavelengths increases faster

Question 43

What is a perfect black body?

Answer 43

An object that absorbs all of the radiation incident on it and it does not reflect or transmit any