Wave Basics
The distance between two corresponding points on a wave.
What is wavelength
Which type of wave needs a medium to travel through? Mechanical or electromagnetic?
Mechanical
What wave behavior occurs when a wave bounces off a surface?
Reflection
Does sound travel faster in gases, liquids, or solids? Why?
Solids because the particles are closer together so they can transfer the sound vibrations easier.
What is the Doppler Effect?
The change in frequency of a wave as the source or observer moves toward or away.
What does increasing the amplitude of a mechanical wave increase? For sound, what does this do to the sound?
The wave's energy. It makes a sound louder
Give an example of a mechanical wave and state if it is transverse or longitudinal.
Water wave, transverse.
Sound wave, longitudinal.
What is refraction? Give an example.
The bending of a wave as it passes through different media. Straw in water.
Why does light slow down when it passes through glass?
It interacts with the particles in the medium
What happens to the pitch of a siren as an ambulance passes you? Why?
It gets lower because the frequency is lower.
How are frequency and wavelength related in electromagnetic waves?
Inversely- as frequency increases, wavelength decreases.
How does density of a medium affect the speed of electromagnetic vs the speed of mechanical waves?
Electromagnetic: more density = slower wave
Mechanical: more density = faster wave
What is interference? Explain both types.
When two waves meet and combine to form a new wave. Constructive = added together (gets bigger). Destructive = cancels each other out (gets smaller)
What happens to the speed of sound as it moves from air into water? Why?
It increases because it has more particles to interact with.
Why does the frequency increase as a sound source moves toward you?
The sound waves are compressed.
Which type of wave has the highest energy: radio, visible light, or gamma rays?
Gamma Rays
Which property of waves does not change on the EMS? (frequency, wavelength, speed, energy, interference, intensity)
Speed will never change (always the speed of light 3,000,000 m/s)
What wave behavior causes waves to spread out after passing through a narrow opening? Give an example of a sound wave and light wave exhibiting this behavior.
Diffraction. Sound wave: cupping your hands to yell. Light wave: light coming through the crack under the door into your room.
Which travels faster sound or light?
Light
What could you change about a scenario in order to make the Doppler Effect stronger?
Increase the relative motion.
If the frequency of a wave doubles, what happens to its wavelength? Use the equation: s = f * λ
It is halved
What type of wave is used for X-rays, and why can it pass through soft tissue but not bone?
Electromagnetic waves. They have high energy and short wavelengths that allow them to penetrate through soft tissue but be absorbed by bone.
Why does diffraction occur more noticeably with sound waves than with light waves?
Sound waves have longer wavelengths than light, making them more likely to bend around obstacles and spread out through openings.
Why does sound not travel in space?
Because space is a vacuum with no medium for sound to travel through and sound is comprised of vibrations.
Draw the sound waves off of an ambulance as it approaches an observer and as it travels further away from that observer.
See board.