Topic 5 - Waves And Particle Nature Of Light And Working Scientifically Flashcards
Define period
Time taken for one complete oscillation
Define wavelength
Distance between one point on a wave and the same point (with the same phase) on the next wave
Define amplitude
Maximum displacement from equilibrium position
Define frequency
Number of complete oscillations per unit time
What is the wave equation and how do you derive it?
V = frequency x lambda
(Number of waves x wavelength = distance) and divide that by time (or think of it as per second) is made from frequency x wavelength
What is a wave
A transfer of energy
What is a transverse wave
The direction of energy transfer is perpendicular to the direction of oscillations of particles/field
Why can transverse waves oscillate a field but longitudinal can’t?
EM radiation does this
The oscillation of what creates an electromagnetic wave
A point charge
Define a longitudinal wave
the direction of energy transfer is parallel to the oscillations of particles
[ f ] = ?
Hz
[ lambda ] = ?
Metres
What does a displacement - distance graph show
A snapshot of a wave, capturing the displacement of lots of particles at that time
What does a displacement time graph show?
The oscillation of a single particle over time
What is the equation for frequency
1/T
What is the symbol for amplitude and the unit
A, metres
How many sf do you write every answer to in physics?
2
Write the equation for speed in symbols
V = s/t
When a transverse wave is travelling to the left, which way is the future of the wave and which is the past?
The right is the future, the left is the past
When a transverse wave is travelling to the left, which way is the future of the wave and which is the past?
The right is the future, the left is the past
Where is the equilibrium position in a longitudinal wave - is there one or are there many?
In the middle of the maximum displacement left and right of a particle
Many (as it is defined for every particle whcih is oscillating)
What is compression in a longitudinal wave and is it an area or a point?
A point of maximum pressure
What is the point of rarefaction in a longitudinal wave? And where is it?
A point of minimum pressure- it is not a point in space, it is at the centre of the particle with the lowest pressure
What is the displacement of a particle at the position of compression/rarefaction?
0
What happened to create a position of rarefaction?
The particles around the rarefaction were displaced away from the rarefaction
What happened to create a position of compression?
The particles around the compression were displaced towards the compression
How do you create a graph of a longitudinal wave from a picture like this:
- Find the displacement of the particles
- do this by reasoning that particles must be moving towards points of compression, and away from points of rarefaction - Decide which way to rotate your arrows of displacement
- Draw a transverse wave over the heads of those arrows
What is the wave equation?
V (speed) = frequency (f) x lambda (wavelength)
- this is obvious as it is the number of waves x distance each wave spans per second
Does sound travel faster in solid or liquid?
Solid
What is the speed of light in a vacuum?
3 x 10^8 m/s
What is the speed of sound in air?
330ms^-1
What is the frequency of ultrasound?
Above 20 000 Hz
What order of magnitude should the frequency of light be?
10^14
What 3 things can happen to a wave when it crosses the boundary between 2 materials
Absorbed, reflected, transmitted
In what circumstance is a wave mostly reflected when it crosses the boundary between two materials
When there is a very large difference in density between the two materials
Exam question to memorise: 6 marker:
Question about wave reflection across a boundary (with examples like echolocation/ultrasound scanning)
- Pulse is reflected from boundary
- The reflection is caused by a change in density
- The Time taken between pulse being sent and received, t, is measured
- The speed of the ultrasound, v, is known (if it is the speed of light - state that it is the speed of light!!)
- Distance to boundary = v x t x 0.5
- The division by 2 is needed as the t is the time for the whole journey of the wave to the boundary and back so the distance needs to be halved to find the distance to the boundary
What two characteristics does a pulse need to have to make high resolution images and why?
Short pulse duration - to limit wave interference
Short wavelength/high frequency - to minimise diffraction and hence increase resolution
What is the limitation on the pulse length emitted to find the distance to an object/form an image of that object
The pulse length must be < the time taken for the pulse to return to the emitter (which is 2 x distance to the object /wave speed)
What is diffraction?
The spreading out of waves as they pass an obstruction
What is phase?
Phase = how far through a wave cycle a given point on a wave is
What does it mean if two particles are in same phase
Particles in phase are an integer multiple of wavelengths apart (1 or 2 etc) (this is their path difference) and are always moving in the same direction
What does it mean if particles are in anti phase
Particles in anti phase are an integer multiple of wavelengths plus 1/2 a wavelength apart (path difference) and are always moving in opposite directions. They always have the opposite displacement to each other (one has the negative displacement of the other)
where on a wave are particles stationary and why?
Crests/troughs as all kinetic energy has been converted to potential energy so they are currently stationary (the derivative of the curve with respect to time is 0, and their velocity is 0)
How many radians in 360 degrees?
2pi
How many radians is one complete wave cycle for a thing going in a circle
2 pi (obvs)
How many radians apart are two particles in anti phase?
Pi radians (180 degrees) in other words - half a wavelength (as a wave, when split in half, has one side as the negative of the other!)
What does it mean for two waves to be coherent?
- they have same frequency, wavelength
- and their phase difference is constant
What is one interpretation of a (sinusoidal) wave graph which involves a circle
A graph of the vertical height of the radius line of a circle on the y axis against the angle of the radius vector on the x axis
What is the phase difference between 2 waves?
*The difference in angle between the two wave cycles *
This definition needs to be improved!
What value (lambda or Time period) is invisible on a displacement distance graph?
Time period
Explain how a sound wave travels through the air
Oscillations of air particles
Direction of Oscillations are parallel to the direction of energy transfer
It is a longitudinal wave
What is equilibrium position
0 displacement (where a particle would be with no wave present)
In what circumstance is a wave mostly reflected from a boundary
When it passes a boundary with a very large difference in density between the two materials
What does changing volts/div change on an oscilloscope
The scale of the y axis (the voltage axis)
Explain how a sound wave travels through the air (3 marks)
Oscillations of air particles
Oscillations are parallel to the direction of energy transfer/propagation
It is a longitudinal wave
Define path difference
The difference in the distance travelled by two waves from their source to the position that they are received
Define phase difference and give 2 possible meanings of it in different contexts
Difference in phase between 2 points on a wave
(difference in phase between 2 particles or one particle at 2 different times)
Explain whether two waves in are in antiphase given that the wavelength is 10cm, and one wave emitter has been moved 5cm away from the other wave emitter
- The traces will be in anti phase (phase difference is pi radians)
- Because the path difference is half a wavelength
- (The microphones are 5cm apart which is one wavelength (10cm)/2) basically using evidence from question
What is the path difference between 2 points on a wave that are in phase?
N (a positive integer) x wavelength
What is the path difference between 2 points on a wave in anti phase?
N (a positive integer) x wavelength + (wavelength/2)
What is the difference between a metre rule and ruler?
A metre rule starts at 0!
What does a phase difference of pi/4 equal in terms of path difference and time difference
Lambda/8, T/8
Give an equation linking proportion of time period, phase, wavelength
Delta t/T = delta theta/2pi = delta s/lambda
Why can’t you measure path difference?
You measure the positions of sources/receivers - you then CALCULATE path difference
Explain how you would use (this) apparatus to measure the speed of sound in air:
- Measure the initial position of the microphone using the metre rule
- Move the microphone until the traces are next in anti-phase
- Calculate the distance moved by the microphone (path difference) = wavelength
- Determine the time period using the number of divisions of 1 full wave cycle x time base
- Wave speed = wavelength x 1/T
Explain how you would use (this) apparatus to measure the speed of sound in air:
- Measure the initial position of the microphone using the metre rule
- Move the microphone until the traces are next in anti-phase
- Calculate the distance moved by the microphone (path difference) = wavelength
- Determine the time period using the number of divisions of 1 full wave cycle x time base
- Wave speed = wavelength x 1/T
How do you find the phase difference on a displacement time graph?
Find the phase of each particle at t=0 and work out the difference
How do you find the phase difference on a displacement distance graph?
Find where 0 and pi are on the wave (by checking which direction is the future of the wave and hence the higher displacement) and then find the difference in phase at a point
Define accuracy
How close a measure value is to the true value
Define precision
How close REPEATED measurements are to each other/the mean (can’t be judged on just one data point)
How does random error affect results?
Lowers precision
How does random error affect results?
Lowers precision
How does systematic error affect measured results?
Lowers accuracy
How does systematic error affect measured results?
Lowers accuracy
Define random error
Error caused by factors that vary from one measurement to another (and therefore leads to results randomly spread around the true value and have a low precision)
Define systematic error
Error that causes all measurements to be different from the true value by the same value
Why do we repeat measurements?
Reduces the effect of random error
So the mean is more likely to be closer to the true value