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Physical Science > Mechanical Waves and Sound > Flashcards

Mechanical Waves and Sound Flashcards

1
Q

What is a transverse wave

A

A wave where particle motion is perpendicular to the direction of energy.

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2
Q

How would a student move the coils of a slinky spring to create a transverse wave?

A

The student would move the coils side to side so the coils move at a right angle to the movement of the wave energy.

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3
Q

What is a wave crest?

A

The highest point on a transverse wave

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4
Q

What is a wave trough?

A

The lowest point on a transverse wave

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5
Q

What is the amplitude of the wave?

A

The vertical distance from the rest position to a crest or to a trough?

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6
Q

How is the wavelength of a transverse wave determined?

A

It is the horizontal distance from one crest to the next crest.

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7
Q

What is a longitudinal or compression wave?

A

A wave where the particle motion is parallel to the direction of energy travel.

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8
Q

What are the names of the low and high points of a longitudinal wave?

A

Rarefactions and compressions

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9
Q

How would a student move the coils of a slinky spring to create a compression wave?

A

The student would push then pull the coils in the same direction as the wave energy travels.

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10
Q

How is the speed of a wave determined?

A

The distance traveled divided by the time of travel.

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11
Q

A student shakes a rope, producing waves with low frequency. If the student increases the frequency of the waves, what happens to their speed?

A

Speed does not change if the waves are in the same medium.

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12
Q

What is the frequency of a wave?

A

The number of pulses that pass a given point in a given time interval.

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13
Q

A student shakes a rope, producing a wave with a low frequency. If the student changes to a high frequency, how will the wavelength of the waves change?

A

The wavelength would be shorter with the higher frequency waves.

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14
Q

What is the relationship between frequency, wavelength and speed?

A

speed = frequency X wavelength

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15
Q

What is wave interference?

A

When two waves are in the same place at the same time (overlap), they add together.

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16
Q

What happens to waves after they interfere with each other?

A

They will return to their original characteristics.

17
Q

What is constructive interference?

A

When the crests of two waves and the troughs of two waves align, the amplitude of the combined wave is larger.

18
Q

What is destructive interference?

A

When the crest of one wave and the trough of another wave align, the amplitude of the combined wave is smaller.

19
Q

What is reflection?

A

Behavior of a wave at a boundary where the incoming wave will bounce back into the original medium.

20
Q

What is the Law of Reflection?

A

The angle of the incident wave equals the angle of the reflected wave when measured from the normal.

21
Q

A student creates a wave pulse in a ripple tank. What will happen to the wave when it strikes a boundary created by the edge of the tank?

A

The wave will reflect off the tank, and the reflected wave will be inverted.

22
Q

What is refraction?

A

When an incident wave enters a new substance at an angle, the transmitted wave will change its speed and bend.

23
Q

Why does a wave that enters a new medium at an angle bend (refract)?

A

The wave speed changes, which changes the direction of the wave as different parts of the wave enter the new medium at different times.

24
Q

What is diffraction?

A

The bending of a wave around an obstacle or when it passes through a small opening.

25
Q

A student creates a wave pulse in a ripple tank. What will the student observe when the pulse meets and moves around an obstacle?

A

The student will observe that some of the wave will reflect off the obstacle, and other parts of the wave will spread out as it moves around the obstacle.

26
Q

How does the speed of sound depend on the state of matter?

A

The speed of sound is fastest in a solid and slowest in a gas.

27
Q

A student sends a pulse in a ripple tank towards a boundary with a narrow slit. What will the student observe if he makes the slit smaller?

A

The wave will bend more after entering through the slit.

28
Q

What is resonance?

A

When an object has a natural frequency of vibration and some force acts on it with the same frequency.

29
Q

What are some examples of resonance?

A

Pushing a child on a swing, an opera singer shattering a glass, and the fall of the Tacoma Narrow’s bridge.

30
Q

What is a sonic boom?

A

When the air particles move faster than the speed of sound, then a loud noise is produced? (Same as the crack of a whip)

31
Q

What is the doppler effect?

A

The apparent change in the frequency of a sound when the source and/or the observer are moving relative to each other.

32
Q

Sound is an example of what type of wave?

A

Sound is a longitudinal mechanical wave.

33
Q

Can sound travel in a vacuum?

A

No. Sound needs a medium to travel through.

34
Q

Which characteristic of a wave does pitch represent?

A

frequency

35
Q

Which characteristic of a wave does loudness represent?

A

Amplitude

Physical Science (11 decks)

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