Triple Flashcards
What are sound waves?
- Type of longitudinal wave that passes through the surrounding medium as a series of compressions and rarefactions-vibrating
- an objects size, shape and structure determines which frequencies of sound it transmits
What happens as sound travels through different mediums?
- if it changes speed and frequency remains fixed, the wavelength changes as velocity=frequency x wavelength
- gets longer as it speeds up and shorter as it slows down
- faster in solids than liquids and in liquids than gases
What are stages 1 and 2 of hearing?
- sound waves reach your ear drum causing them to vibrate
- vibrations are passed onto ossicles through the semi circular canal to the cochlea
What is stage 3 of hearing and how it is limited?
- cochlea turns these vibrations into electrical signals which are sent to your brains which interprets then as different pitches and volumes based of their frequency and intensity
- sound is limited by size, shape and structure of the eardrum
What is ultrasound?
Sound with frequencies higher than 20,000Hz
How can ultrasound be made?
Electrical devices can be made that produce electrical oscillations of any frequency which can be converted into mechanical vibrations to produce ultra sound waves
How is ultrasound used for foetal scanning?
- ultrasound passes through the body but whenever they reach a boundary between two media some of the wave is reflected back and detected (e.g. fluid of the womb and skin of foetus)
- the exact timing and distribution of these echos are processed by a computer to produce a video image
How is ultrasound used for sonar?
- used by boats and submarines to find the distance to the seabed or to locate objects in deep water
- the time between a pulse of sound being transmitted and detected and the speed of sound in water can be used to distance of the surface or object -echo sounding
What is infrasound?
Sound with frequencies lower than 20Hz
How is infrasound used for exploration of the earth’s core?
- earthquakes produce seismic waves at a range of frequencies (some beneath 20Hz) and can be detected all across the earth
- seismologists work out the time these waves take to be received to explore the structure as different densities in the core result in absorption and refraction
What is fission?
- a type of nuclear radiation that is used to release energy from atoms
- when a large atom splits into two smaller atoms (daughter nuclei) and three neutrons and energy
- the products of fission are radioactive
How does fission start and continue?
- started by an incident neutron as it is absorbed by the main atom making it more unstable
- by having neutrons left at the end they can induce fission in other atoms causing them to split creating a chain reaction
How does fission work in a power station?
- energy released by fission is transferred to the thermal energy store of the moderator causing it to heat water in the boiler
- this produces steam and energy transferred to KE as it rises
- this turns a turbine transferring KE which turns a coil of wire within a magnetic field creating a current and electricity
Why does fission have safety controls?
If the chain reaction is left unchecked, large amounts of energy are released in a short period of time and lots of fission causing a runaway reaction and potential explosion
-nuclear power stations produce controlled chain reactions
What does the moderator do?
- usually graphite
- moderators with fuel rods slow neutrons down so they can be absorbed
What do control rods do?
- usually boron
- limits the rate of fission by absorbing excess neutrons so only one neutron produces more fission control the reaction
- if temp is too high move control rods down, too low move them up
What is fusion?
- two light nuclei collide at high speed and temperature, fusing to create a larger heavier nucleus and energy
- the heavier nucleus doesn’t have as much mass as the two lighter nuclei as some mass is converted into energy and carried away by radiation
Where does fusion happen naturally?
On the sun and stars providing them with energy
- this is how all elements other than hydrogen were created
- we don’t tend to used it on earth as the amount of energy put in isn’t viable with the amount we get out as we have less fuel than the sun
Why does fusion need the conditions it does?
- happens at very high pressures and temperatures (10,000,000)
- because positively charged nuclei have to get very close to fuse so the strong force due to electrostatic repulsion must be overcome
- more kinetic energy means nuclei get closer before this happens
What are the pros of fusion?
- doesn’t release CO2 so is a clean source of energy
- Huge amount of energy can be created from small nuclear material
- very reliable
- generally pretty safe with little waste
What are the cons of fusion?
- public perception is of it being very dangerous
- if waste products leak they can contaminate natural sources for years due to long half lives and cause explosions
- High overall costs both initially and when decommissioning p
What is pressure?
The force per unit area
Pressure = Force on a surface /area of that surface
What creates pressure?
As gas particles move around at high speeds they bang into each other exerting a force as they collide -fluid pressure
What effect does temperature have on gas pressure?
- the speed of gas particles increases as the temperature gets higher as the more frequently particles collide
- the force exerted by each particles also increases
- so increasing temperature of a fixed volume of gas increases pressure
What effect does volume have on pressure?
If temperature is constant, if volume of gas increases gas pressure decreases as particles are more spread out so collide less frequently
-pressure and volume are inversely proportional
What is the estimated distance required for a road vehicle to stop at
- 30mph
- 50mph
- 70mph
- 23m
- 53m
- 96m