P.12 Waves Flashcards
What is a wave?
A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another without transferring matter.
What is the wavelength of a wave?
The wavelength of a wave is the distance between two corresponding points on a wave.
What is the amplitude of a wave?
The amplitude of a wave is the maximum displacement of a point on the wave from its rest position.
True or False: Mechanical waves require a medium to travel through.
True
What is the frequency of a wave?
The frequency of a wave is the number of complete waves passing a point per second.
What is the formula for wave speed?
Wave speed = frequency x wavelength
What is the unit for frequency?
Hertz (Hz)
What type of wave requires a material medium for its propagation?
Mechanical wave
What type of wave does not require a medium for its propagation?
Electromagnetic wave
What is a transverse wave?
A wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation.
What is a longitudinal wave?
A wave in which the particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of wave propagation.
What is the speed of light in a vacuum?
299,792 kilometers per second
What is the speed of sound in air at room temperature?
343 meters per second
What is the equation for calculating wave speed using the wave equation?
Wave speed = √(tension / linear mass density)
What is a standing wave?
A wave that appears to be standing still, produced by the interference of two waves with the same frequency and amplitude traveling in opposite directions.
What is the principle of superposition?
The principle that states when two or more waves meet, the total displacement at any point is equal to the sum of the displacements of the individual waves.
What is constructive interference?
When two waves meet and their displacements add together to create a wave with a larger amplitude.
What is destructive interference?
When two waves meet and their displacements subtract from each other, resulting in a wave with a smaller amplitude.
What is diffraction?
The bending of waves around obstacles and the spreading of waves as they pass through openings.
What is refraction?
The bending of waves as they pass from one medium to another due to a change in wave speed.
What is the law of reflection?
The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection.
What is the Doppler effect?
The apparent change in frequency of a wave caused by the relative motion between the source of the wave and the observer.
What is a medium?
The substance or material through which a wave can travel.
What is a node in a standing wave?
A point in a standing wave where there is no displacement of the medium.
What is an antinode in a standing wave?
A point in a standing wave where the displacement of the medium is at a maximum.
What is resonance?
The phenomenon that occurs when an object is forced to vibrate at its natural frequency, resulting in a large amplitude vibration.
What is a diffraction grating?
A device used to separate light into its component colors by diffracting light through a series of closely spaced slits.
What is the formula for calculating the number of diffraction orders?
Number of orders = nλ / d
What is a wavefront?
A surface that connects all points of a wave that have the same phase.
What is the principle of Huygens?
The principle that states every point on a wavefront can be considered as a source of secondary wavelets that spread out in all directions.
What is the law of refraction?
The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is a constant for a given pair of media.
What is the critical angle?
The angle of incidence that results in the angle of refraction being 90 degrees, causing total internal reflection.
What is total internal reflection?
The reflection of light that occurs when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, causing light to be reflected back into the original medium.
What is the formula for Snell’s Law?
n₁sinθ₁ = n₂sinθ₂
What is the law of reflection for a plane mirror?
The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, and the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the mirror all lie in the same plane.
What is a ray diagram?
A diagram that shows how light rays behave when they strike mirrors or lenses.
What is the focal length of a lens?
The distance from the lens to the focal point, where parallel rays of light converge or appear to diverge.
What is a real image?
An image formed by converging light rays that can be projected onto a screen.
What is a virtual image?
An image formed by diverging light rays that cannot be projected onto a screen.
What is the magnification of an image?
The ratio of the height of the image to the height of the object.