Waves

Question 1

Are sound waves longitudinal or transverse waves?

Answer 1

Longitudinal

Question 2

What is frequency?

Answer 2

The number of waves passing a point each second

Question 3

What is the equation for time period?

Answer 3

Time period = 1/frequency

Question 4

In a vaccume how do the speeds of electromagnetic waves compare to each other?

Answer 4

Same speed

Question 5

What is the order of electromagnetic spectrum?

Answer 5

• Radio wave
• Microwave
• infrared
• visible light
• ultraviolet
• X-rays
• gamma rays

Question 6

What is the water tank experiment an example of?

Answer 6

Transverse waves

Question 7

What is amplitude?

Answer 7

The maximum displacement of a wave

Question 8

What is the equation for wavelength?

Answer 8

Wavelength = speed / frequency

Question 9

What is a transverse wave?

Answer 9

Direction of a vibration and the flow of energy are at right angles

Question 10

What is a longditudional wave?

Answer 10

Direction of wave and flow of energy are paralell

Question 11

What is the ripple tank experiment for wavelength ?

Answer 11

• have water waves and strobe on at same frequency (which allows the waves to look stationary)
• measure the first to last wavefront with a ruler and divide by amount of waves

Wavelength = length of ripple tank / number of waves

Question 12

What is the law of reflection?

Answer 12

That the angle of incidence = angle of reflection

Question 13

What is the ripple tank experiment for the speed of a wave?

Answer 13

• measure whole length of ripple tank
• pick one wave and start stopwatch from it being formed to reaching the other end of ripple tank
• repeat to remove anomalies
• calculate a mean
• calculate velocity by equation:

Velocity = frequency x wavelength

Question 14

What are all waves made by?

Answer 14

Vibrations / oscillations

Question 15

What is a rarfraction?

Answer 15

Light passing through something transparent / translucent

Question 16

What does a shorter wavelength in electromagnetic wave mean it can do easier?

Answer 16

Pass through skin tissue

Question 17

What are radio waves produced by?

Answer 17

Oscillations in electrical circuits

Question 18

What do radio waves create when they are absorbed?

Answer 18

An alternating current with the same frequency as the radio itself

Question 19

How are gamma rays formed?

Answer 19

Radioactive decay (changes inside the nucleus of an atom)

Question 20

What is a ‘radiation dose’?

Answer 20

A measure of the risk of harm resulted from exposure to radiation

Question 21

What can UV rays cause?

Answer 21

Skin cancer and premature skin aging

Question 22

What type of radiation is X-rays and Gamma rays and what does it cause?

Answer 22

• ionising radiation
• mutation of genes and cancer

Question 23

What are radio waves used for and why?

Answer 23

Television and radio
They can travel long distances before being absorbed

Question 24

What are microwaves used for and why?

Answer 24

• satellite communications, cooking food
• microwaves can pass through the earths atmosphere without being reflected or refracted

Question 25

What is infrared used for and why?

Answer 25

• electric heaters, cooking food, infrared cameras
• energy of infrared is easily absorbed by the surface of objects

Question 26

What is visible light used for?

Answer 26

Fibre optic communication

Question 27

What is Ultraviolet waves used for?

Answer 27

Energy efficient lamps and sun tanning

Question 28

What are X-rays and Gamma rays used for?

Answer 28

Medical imaging and treatments