General Wave Info
Wave Characteristics
Numeric Questions
Light
EMS
100
What is a periodic disturbance that transfers energy?
a wave
100
What is the highest point of a wave?
crest
100

A wave traveling at 10 m/s has a frequency of 0.5Hz. What is its wavelength?

20m

100
What type of waves are light waves?
electromagnetic
100
What is the bouncing back of a light wave after it hits a surface?
reflection
200
What is the physical environment that waves occur in?
medium
200
What is the lowest point of a wave?
trough
200

Waves are produced with a frequency of 10Hz. What is the period of a single wave?

0.1s

200
What is the bending of a light wave as it passes from one medium into a different medium?
refraction
200

What is the word for the speed that waves travel at?

wavespeed

300
What are waves the require a medium (such as sound)?
mechanical waves
300
What is the distance from a point on one wave to the same point on the next wave?
wavelength
300

A series of waves are produced with a frequency of 10Hz. How many waves will have been produced after 1 minute?

600

300
What electromagnetic waves have the highest frequency?
gamma rays
300

What color in the rainbow has the shortest wavelength?

purple/violet

400

What are waves where the particles move perpendicular (up and down) to the direction of motion?

transverse waves

400
What is the distance (how high or how low) particles move from the baseline of the wave?
amplitude
400

A wave with an amplitude of 2cm interferes with a wave of amplitude -2cm traveling in the opposite direction. What is the amplitude of the resultant wave?

0 cm (complete destructive interference will occur)

400
What type of electromagnetic wave has the longest wavelength?
sound waves
400

What determines what color of visible light we see?

wavelength

500
What is the medium for seismic waves?
earth/dirt
500
What is the time it takes for a wave to complete one cycle?
period
500

A wave is being generated on a string with a velocity of 5 m/s. If the wavelength is halved, what will the new velocity be?

5 m/s. The frequency will change, not the velocity.

500
Why does light have a "dual nature?"
it can behave as waves or particles
500

How fast does light travel?

300,000,000 m/s

M
e
n
u