Waves (Seneca) Flashcards
Waves transfer energy from …
one place to another without transferring matter.
Wave motion (the movement of waves) can be shown by the …
vibrations of a spring or by water waves.
When a wave travels along the surface of the water, a cork floating on the surface of the water will only …
move up and down as the wave passes.
Wave speed =
frequency × wavelength
Frequency of a wave =
1 / time period
Wave frequency =
number of oscillations / time
number of oscillations / time
= wave frequency
The amplitude of a wave is the …
largest distance that a point on the wave moves from its rest position.
The wavelength is the …
distance between two adjacent wavefronts.
A transverse wave causes the particles in the medium (the substance that the wave travels through) to …
vibrate at right angles to the direction of the wave’s motion.
At what angle do the particles move relative to a transverse wave’s direction?
90 degrees (right angle)
Examples of longitudinal waves are …
sound waves
In what position do particles end up after a transverse wave has passed?
Same position
Water waves can be set up in a ———- , where a rod at one end of a tank of water creates a series of ripples.
Ripple Tank
Water waves can be set up in a Ripple Tank, where a …
rod at one end of a tank of water creates a series of ripples.
bright light shone through the water onto a sheet of paper shows the ripples on the water very clearly as a series of parallel lines travelling along with constant speed.
These parallel lines are the peaks of the ripples on the water. We call them …
wavefronts
What is the distance between two wavefronts?
Wavelength
The wave speed (metres per second, ms-1) of a wave is equal to …
its frequency (Hertz, Hz) multiplied by its wavelength (metres, m).
A longitudinal wave causes the medium’s particles to …
vibrate in the same direction as the wave’s motion.
Here are some example of longitudinal waves:
- Sound waves
- P-waves
A bright light shone through the water onto a sheet of paper shows the ripples on the water very clearly as a series of ———— lines travelling along with constant speed.
parallel
When waves travel from one medium to another, their speed and wavelength change but their ——— stays the same.
frequency
When waves travel from one medium to another, their ————- change but their frequency stays the same.
speed and wavelength
The speed of a wave changes when it travels from …
one medium to another.
The ——— of a wave also changes when it travels from one medium to another.
wavelength
The speed and the wavelength are …
directly proportional.
If the speed doubles, the wavelength …
doubles
If the speed halves, the wavelength…
halves.
The frequency of the wave does not change because …
the source is producing the same number of oscillations (vibrations) per second.
Waves can be ————- at the boundary between one medium (material) and another.
reflected, refracted, absorbed and transmitted (passes through)
If the wave crosses to the new medium at an angle (not 90 degrees), the change in the wave’s speed will …
cause the direction of the wave’s motion to change and the wave will appear to bend.
If the wave crosses to the new medium at an ————- , the change in the wave’s speed will cause the direction of the wave’s motion to change and the wave will appear to bend.
angle (not 90 degrees)
If the wave crosses to the new medium at an angle (not 90 degrees), the change in the wave’s speed will cause the direction of the wave’s motion to change and the wave will appear to bend.
This is called …
refraction
Reflection happens when a …
wave hits a flat surface (plane) and bounces off.
What is transmission?
Waves carry on travelling through a new material.
This often leads to refraction.
What is absorption?
When waves meet some materials, the energy is absorbed by the material.
What type of material absorbs the most light?
Matte black
The angle of incidence is the …
angle between the incident (incoming) light ray and the normal.
The normal is a …
line at 90 degrees to the plane.
Light can be reflected by a …
plane (flat surface).
The angle of reflection is the …
angle between the reflected light ray and the normal.
The law of reflection states that …
the angle of incidence = the angle of reflection.
Light is refracted when it travels from …
one medium to another and changes speed.
If light speeds up on entering a new medium, this medium is “—————”.
less optically dense
If light speeds up on entering a new medium, this medium is “less optically dense”.
The light is refracted ———— from the normal - the angle of refraction is larger than the angle of incidence.
further
If light speeds up on entering a new medium, this medium is “less optically dense”.
The light is refracted further from the normal - the angle of refraction is ——— than the angle of incidence.
larger
If light speeds up on entering a new medium, this medium is “—————-”.
The light is refracted further from the normal - the angle of refraction is larger than the angle of incidence.
less optically dense
What will happen to the wave if the light enters a less optically dense material?
It will speed up
Light speeds up when …
entering a less optically dense medium.
Light speeds up when entering a less optically dense medium. When this happens, some light is …
refracted and some light is reflected.
What is internal
reflection?
when some light is refracted and some light is reflected
What is angle of
refraction?
The angle between the refracted light and the normal.
If the angle of incidence is the same as the critical angle, the light will …
travel along the boundary of the 2 mediums.
If the angle of incidence is the ——- as the critical angle, the light will travel along the boundary of the 2 mediums.
same
If the angle of incidence ——— the critical angle, then all the light will be reflected. This is called total internal reflection.
exceeds
If the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle, then ———— . This is called total internal reflection.
all the light will be reflected
If the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle, then all the light will be reflected. This is called …
total internal reflection.
Total internal reflection means that …
all of the light is reflected and no light is refracted.
If the angle of incidence is the same as the critical angle, the light will …
travel along the boundary of the two mediums.
Sound waves are ————— waves.
longitudinal
Sound waves are longitudinal waves. They can travel through solids by …
causing vibrations in the solid.
Sound is produced by the …
vibration of particles in a medium (the substance that waves travel through).
The vibrations mean that sound waves travel in a series of …
compressions (where the medium is squashed together) and rarefactions (where the medium is stretched apart).
Ultrasound has a frequency …
above 20,000Hz.
Our ears can detect vibrations (compressions and rarefactions) and transfer the information to our brain via our …
auditory nerve.
Our ears are sensitive to (can hear) a range of frequencies between …
20Hz and 20,000 Hz.
Ultrasound has a frequency above 20,000Hz. Humans cannot hear sounds with frequencies this high, but ————- can.
other animals
Dog whistles have frequencies above 20,000Hz, which is why …
humans cannot hear them.
Ultrasound is also used by …
doctors to perform scans of a developing foetus.
The range of frequencies that we can hear changes with age.
Elderly people tend to become …
less sensitive to sounds with a higher frequency.
Sound needs to travel through a …
medium
The more rigid the medium is, the ——— the speed of the sound wave through the medium.
higher
The ——— rigid the medium is, the higher the speed of the sound wave through the medium.
more
The more compressible the medium is, the ——- the speed of the sound wave through the medium.
slower
The ——- compressible the medium is, the slower the speed of the sound wave through the medium.
more
Gases are ————- , so the speed of sound in a gas is very slow.
readily compressible (easy to squash)
Gases are readily compressible (easy to squash), so the speed of sound in a gas is …
very slow.
Solids are significantly ———— and gases and are very hard to compress.
more rigid than liquids
Solids are significantly more rigid than liquids and gases and are very hard to compress.
Therefore, the speed of sound in solids is much …
higher than in liquids or gases.
Liquids are more ————— than gases, so the speed of sound in liquids is much higher than in gases.
rigid and less compressible
Liquids are more rigid and less compressible than gases, so the speed of sound in liquids is …
much higher than in gases.
——— can be used to measure the speed of sound.
Echoes
Describe the experiment for Measuring the Speed of Sound. (Short)
Two people stand a measured distance from a tall vertical wall. This distance should ideally be about 100m.
The first person bangs two wooden blocks together to make a sharp sound and repeats this every time the echo is heard. Starting counting from zero, the second person uses a stopwatch (timer) to measure the time taken for a number of claps – 50 or 100.
In the time between two successive claps, the sound travels to the wall and back.
The speed of sound can be calculated from the following relationship:
speed of sound = ( distance to wall × 2 × number of claps (N)) ÷ time taken for N claps.
Sound is a wave. Because of this, it can be:
- Absorbed
- Transmitted
- Reflected
- Refracted
When ultrasound waves meet a boundary between two different materials, some are reflected. We can work out how far away a boundary is based on …
how long it takes for reflections to reach a detector.
We can use ultrasound waves for both …
medical and industrial imaging.
Ultrasound uses:
- training dogs (dog whistles)
- industry
- measuring water depth
- medicine
Doctors use ultrasound to …
perform scans of a developing foetus.
Ultrasound waves can ———- the body.
pass through
Whenever they reach a boundary between two different materials, some will be reflected. We can detect the …
reflected waves
Whenever they reach a boundary between two different materials, some will be reflected. We can detect the reflected waves.
A computer processes the …
timing and distribution of these waves. The computer uses these to produce a video image of the foetus.
We can use echo sounding to …
detect objects in deep water and also to measure water depth.
We can use ———- to detect objects in deep water and also to measure water depth.
echo sounding
We send an ultrasound pulse into the water. When this pulse hits any surface, it is …
reflected back.
We can work out the distance travelled by the sound wave by …
recording the time between us sending the pulse and detecting the reflection.
We can use ultrasound in industry to …
find flaws in objects or materials (e.g. pipes or wood).
When ultrasound waves enter a material, they will normally be reflected by the far side of the material.
If there is a flaw (e.g. a crack), the waves will …
be reflected sooner. This tells us that there is a problem.
Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves:
- P-waves (primary)
- S-waves (secondary)
Seismic waves are …
waves which travel through the Earth.
P-waves are …
longitudinal, seismic waves.
P-waves travel at …
different speeds through solids and liquids.
S-waves (secondary) are …
transverse, seismic waves.
S-waves cannot travel through …
liquids (only through solids).
Seismic waves cannot travel through all parts of the earth because …
the earth is made up of different materials.
Seismic waves cannot travel through all parts of the earth because the earth is made up of different materials.
Scientists have used this principle to …
work out the different materials that the earth is made up of.
By detecting seismic waves from Earthquakes, scientists have worked out that …
the Earth has a solid core surrounded by a liquid outer core.
In a sound wave, in which direction do the particles move?
In the same direction as the wave’s motion.