Sensational Sound
Super Sonic Sound
Luminous Light
Luscious Light
Potpourri
100

In what form does sound travel?

Waves

100

What does a bat use to find food and navigate: radar, sonar, or echo?

Sonar

100

What is the definition of a light year?

The distance light travels in one year.

100

What is the difference between a transparent and an opaque object?

You can see through a transparent object (like a window), but no light can be seen through an opaque object (like wood).  

100

A sound that is too high to hear is called what?

Ultra-sonic

200

Why does NASA dump large amounts of water on the rocket's launch pad?

To absorb the tremendous sound energy produced by the rocket's engines.

200

What is an echo, and what is needed to create an echo?

Sound reflected back to its source.  A hard surface (rock or cement) is needed for the sound waves to bounce off of.  
200

Light is a form of what type of energy?

Radiant 

200

Give an example of a light source and a light reflector.  What is the difference?

A light source would be a candle or the sun, something that uses energy to generate light.  A reflector would be a mirror or water, something that can only reflect light, not generate it.  

200

What is sound measured in?  What is thermal energy measured in? 

Sound is measured in decibels.  Heat energy is measured in joules.

300

How is sound created?

When an object vibrates rapidly.  

300

Name the three common classifications of instruments.

Percussion, woodwind, and stringed.

300

Most light is visible light.  Name four other types of light.

Radio waves, infrared waves, ultraviolet light, x-rays, cosmic rays, gamma rays. 

300

Using the words absorb and reflect, describe why a fire truck appears red. 

The truck is reflecting the red light coming from the sun but is absorbing all the other colors.  This makes it appear as red to our eyes.  

300

Describe what happens when light is refracted.

Light waves are bent when they pass from air to water.  

400

Name three types of mediums that sound can travel through.

Solid, liquid, gas.

400

Describe what "pitch" is and how pitch is created.  

Pitch is the highness or lowness of a sound.  The faster something vibrates (the frequency of the waves), the higher the pitch.  A bird's tweet has a high pitch, while a lion's roar has a low pitch.  

400

What is the time between light waves called, and what does it determine?

Frequency, and it determines color.

400

What is the height of a light wave called, and what does it determine?

Amplitude, and it determines the brightness.

400

Name one similarity and one difference between the way sound and light travel.  

They both travel in the form of waves, but sound waves need matter to bounce off of, whereas light waves can travel through a vacuum (the absence of matter).

500

What is the relationship between the energy required to make a sound and the intensity (loudness of the sound).

The more energy that is used to make a sound, the louder (more intense) the sound will be.  

500

Describe what tone is and give an example of two different tones.

Tone is the quality or characteristics of a sound.  Even if they play the same note (pitch), a trumpet has a different tone than a violin.  

500

A "lux" is approximately equal to what? 

The amount of light hitting a surface that is one meter from a candle.  

500

Explain the difference between a solar and lunar eclipse.  

Solar eclipse is when the moon is between the sun and earth.  Lunar eclipse is when the earth is between the sun and moon.  

500

Explain why an iceberg can have more thermal (heat) energy than a cup of hot tea, and how this relates to temperature.

Equal amounts of both the tea and the iceberg would have the same internal or thermal energy.  But because the iceberg is so much larger, it has more thermal energy even though the internal temperature is lower.