Wave Properties
What wave property tells how many complete waves pass a point each second?
Frequency
What type of wave is sound: mechanical or electromagnetic?
What is it called when light bounces off a surface?
Reflection
What type of material is a brick wall: transparent, translucent, or opaque?
Opaque
A student shakes a jump rope up and down. What type of wave travels along the rope?
transverse mechanical wave
Which type of wave requires matter to travel: mechanical or electromagnetic?
Mechanical
A mosquito makes a high-pitched buzzing sound. Is its vibration frequency high or low?
High frequency.
What happens to light when it strikes a surface and is taken in rather than passing through?
Absoprtion
A student can see light through a shower curtain but cannot clearly see objects behind it. What type of material is it?
Translucent
What kind of wave can carry energy from the Sun to Earth through space?
electromagnetic wave
What are the two main categories of waves based on whether they need a medium?
Mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves.
What happens when a sound wave hits a surface and bounces back toward you?
Reflection, which can produce an echo.
A ray of light changes direction when it enters a swimming pool at an angle. What behavior is this?
A student looks through clear glass and frosted glass. Why is the image clearer through the clear glass?
Clear glass transmits light with little scattering, while frosted glass scatters the light
Is visible light mechanical or electromagnetic?
electromagnetic
A wave moves by compressing and spreading particles in the same direction it travels. What type of wave is this?
longitudinal
Why can you hear someone speaking across a classroom but not through outer space?
Sound requires a medium. Outer space has no particles to transmit sound.
A student shines a flashlight at a smooth mirror and a rough wall. Why does the mirror produce a clearer image?
Smooth Mirror: produces regular reflection
Rough Wall: scatters reflected light in many directions
Two light waves have the same frequency, but Wave A has a greater amplitude. Which wave is brighter?
Wave A, because greater amplitude means greater light intensity.
A student makes a list of four waves: sound, radio, seismic, and ultraviolet. Which two are mechanical waves?
Hint: Seismic waves cause earthquakes
Sound waves and seismic waves.
Two electromagnetic waves are traveling through space. Wave A has a longer wavelength than Wave B. Which wave has the higher frequency?
Wave B
A speaker produces a sound with a low frequency and large amplitude. Describe its pitch and loudness.
Low pitch and loud sound.
White light enters a glass prism. Why do different colors leave the prism at different angles?
Different wavelengths of light refract by different amounts, separating the colors.
A student creates two waves on a rope. One has twice the amplitude of the other. Which carries more energy?
The wave with the greater amplitude, assuming the other conditions are the same.
List the electromagnetic spectrum from shortest wavelength to longest.
Gamma Rays
X-Rays
Ultraviolet (UV)
Visible Light
Infrared
Microwaves
Radio Waves