Waves: The Wave equation.

Question 1

What is wave speed?

Answer 1

• Speed at which the wave moves through the medium.

- E.g: The speed at which energy is transferred.

Question 2

What is the equation?

Answer 2

• Wave Speed (m/s)= Frequency(Hz) x Wavelength(M).

Question 3

How to measure the speed of sound waves in air?

Answer 3

1) Person A holds an item that when classed together can produce a noise and person B holds a timer.
2) Person B Starts the timer when they see Person B clash the items together.
3) Person B stops the timer when they hear the sound of the item clashed together.
Calculate the speed of the waves by dividing the distance travelled by the time taken.

Question 4

What are the problems with this experiment?

Answer 4

• Every person has a different reaction time.
• Reduce this by having a large amount of observers with timers. Take all the results and discard anomalous and work mean.
• Time between seeing the cymbals clash and hearing the sound is short=
• Makes it difficult to press the timer at the correct times.
  reduce the problem by increasing the distance between person A and person B.