Wave Quest review questions
1. Label the diagram below with the correct terms for the parts of the wave.
2. Define wave amplitude.
Amount of NRG in wave shown
by displacement from the line of origin
3. Define frequency.
Rate the wave repeats
4. Define wavelength. How far the Wave travels before repeating a wave pattern.
5. What are the units for frequency? Hertz
6. What are the units for wavelength? M
7. What is the wave equation?
8. What stays constant for a wave in a medium?
9. Oscillations measured per second, is the _______________.
10. Explain the differences between a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave.
Transverse causes the medium to oscillate perpendicular to the motion of the wave while
longitudinal waves cause the medium to oscillate parallel to the direction of wave motion.
11. Explain the difference between a mechanical wave and an electromagnetic wave.
Give an example of each one.
Mechanical uses a physical medium while electromagnetic uses the electric and magnetic
fields to travel.
12. What type of wave is sound? Longitudinal
13. How does a drum create sound when the top of it is hit? By causing the air to
vibrate.
14. Define diffraction.
The bending of a wave around the corner of an edge the wave passes.
15. Define refraction.
The bending of a wave due to changes in speed as a wave travels from one medium to
another.
16. Define reflection.
A wave changes direction based on the angle of incidence when the wave encounters a
boundary.
17. A light ray hits a mirror at an angle to the surface, in what direction will the light
ray reflect? At the same angle to the normal the wave made when it hit the
mirror.
18. Explain the difference between constructive and destructive interference.
Constructive interference is when two waves combine at a single meeting point to create
a positive sum of their NRG’s while Destructive Interference is when the Two waves
meet and combine to produce a smaller result.
19. What happens when the crest of two waves occupy the same point in space at the
same time? Superposition
20. Explain the Doppler Effect?
The change in frequency of the heard sound or wave due to the motion of the source.
21. Complete the following diagram.
22. Complete the following diagram.
23. Using the principle of superposition, what will the wave look like when Point A
on both waves meet at Point B the same time.
A
B
A
24. What will happen to the path of the waves below as they travel from air into
water? Do the waves speed up or slow down? Complete the diagram.
Water
Air
25. A wave on the lake has a wavelength of 2.00 m and has a frequency of 25 Hz.
What is the speed of the wave?
26. On the Salt Flats in Utah, the accepted speed of sound is about 343 m/s at 10:00
A.M. Find the wavelength of a sound wave with a frequency of 100 Hz.
27. A fire truck has a horn with a frequency of 500 Hz. It is moving straight toward
you. What is the frequency that you hear in comparison to the actual frequency of the
horn?
28. If a mosquito misses and flies by your ear, what happens to the frequency of the
sound as it flies away from you?