3A.1 Wave Basics

Question 1

what is a wave

Answer 1

it is a means to transfer energy via oscillations

Question 2

do waves move

Answer 2

even though energy moves from one point to another waves have no net movement

Question 3

what are mechanical waves

Answer 3

waves that transfer energy via oscillates through a medium matter

Question 4

what are electromagnetic waves

Answer 4

waves that transfer energy through repeats oscillation of magnetic and electric field in which it doesn’t require any matter to travel through

Question 5

what is displacement in a wave diagram

Answer 5

it is a measure of a particular point on a wave at a particular instant of time, measured from the mean position of the wave

Question 6

what is amplitude in a wave diagram

Answer 6

the magnitude of the maximum displacement reached by oscillation in the wave

Question 7

what is the frequency in a wave diagram

Answer 7

the number of complete wave cycles per second

Question 8

what is wavelength in a wave diagram

Answer 8

the distance between a point on a wave and the same point on the next cycle of the wave

Question 9

what is the period in a wave diagram

Answer 9

the time taken for a complete oscillation at one point on the wave

Question 10

what is the phase in a wave diagram

Answer 10

the stage where a point on the wave has gone through a complete cycle

Question 11

what is the wave speed

Answer 11

the rate of movement of a wave

Question 12

what is the wave equation

Answer 12

v = f x A

Question 13

how is a two-beam oscilloscope used to find the speed

Answer 13

1. one bean shows a trace of a sound picked up by a microphone from a loudspeaker 50 cm away, the second beam shows a trace of the same sound picked up from a microphone further away from the speaker, the difference between the position of the peek between the two oscilloscopes shows the time taken to travel this increased distance in which we can use to find the speed
2. by synchronizing the two mics the same distance away from the loudspeaker making sure that bot traces are identical then moving one of the mics further way until the traces are identical again that exact distance between the two mics is the wavelengths, and since we already have the frequency set we can find the wave speed using v=fa

Question 14

how do we minimize the error while using the oscilloscope

Answer 14

by synchronizing the two mics

Question 15

pulse-echo measurements

Answer 15

read page 91 and 92

Question 16

what is a two-beam oscilloscope

Answer 16

it is an oscilloscope with two inputs wherein displays each as a line on the screen, as both are shown at the same time to compare results