Conceptual Physics
Waves
Practice Test
1. Radar waves with a .034 m wavelength are sent out from a transmitter with a speed of 3 x 10 8 m/s. What
is their frequency? Ans: 8.82 x 109 Hz
2. A 2.5 Hz wave has a wavelength of 0.6 m. What is its speed? Ans: 1.5 m/s
3. What is the period of a wave with a crest-to-crest distance of 10 m and a frequency of 20 Hz? What is its
speed? Ans: 0.05s, 200 m/s
4. Water waves in a tank are 10 cm long. If they pass a point at the rate of 3.75 waves/sec, what is their
speed? What is their period? Ans: 0.375 m/s; 0.27 sec
5. A wave is reflected from a wall 700 m away. The reflected wave is detected 5 sec after the original wave’s
transmission. What is the speed of the wave? If the wave has a period of 0.002 sec, what is its wavelength?
Ans: 280 m/s; 0.56 m
6. Lighting flashes and you hear the thunderclap 3 sec later. How far away did the lightning strike if
velocity of sound is 340 m/s?(1020 m)
7. As an airplane flies overhead, you notice that your house window begins buzzing (vibrating). What
term describes this phenomenon? (a) diffraction (b) interference (c) refraction (d) resonance
8. What is the difference between constructive interference and destructive interference?
9. What is an echo? Why does it occur?
10. For light and sound, what do frequency and amplitude represent? (how would we detect them?)
11. What do x-rays, microwaves and radio waves all have in common?
12. What is a wave? What do waves transmit? What is the difference between transverse and
compression (longitudinal) waves?
13. A transverse wave is found to have a vertical distance of 8 cm from crest to trough, a frequency of 2
Hz and a horizontal distance of 10 cm from crest to trough. Determine the amplitude, period,
wavelength and speed of this wave. ( 4 cm, .5 s, 20 cm, .4 m/s)
14. Why does a car horn seem to change pitch as the car passes you? What is it called? Explain what
is happening to the wavelength and frequency of the wave.
15.
If each square represents one
meter, what is the amplitude and
wavelength of each wave?
If the frequency of the solid
colored wave is
3 Hz, what is the frequency of the
dotted wave? (the waves have
the same velocity).