Day
Day 1
Day 2
Topic and Details
Vibrations, Waves and Phase:
 mechanical waves and a medium
 particle behaviour in mechanical waves
 vibrations: not net motion (boat example)
 Particle behaviour in different media:
solidselastic (mattress example).
Liquidsnot crystal formation but still
connected and thus good transmitters of
sound
Gases Less dense again and relies on
translational molecular motion (straight line
motion) less effective than other two at
transmitting sound b/c of low density
Wave Characteristics
 Amplitude: maximum displacement
 Wavelength: distance between two similar
points in identical cycles
 Waveform: shape of wave when graphed
 Crest: maximum point (transverse wave)
 Trough: minimum point (transverse wave)
Wave lab
Handout Culminating Activity
Assessment: wave lab
(Hand back Energy Test; Go over solutions)
Universal Wave Equation
 Recap/ questions from the lab
Wave characteristics continued:
 Phase: x coordinate of a unique point of a
wave
 Phase shift: shift the wave along the x axis
 In phase: phase shifts are equal (lambda/2
Curriculum Expectations
E2.2 conduct laboratory inquiries or
computer
simulations involving mechanical waves
and
their interference (e.g., using a mass
oscillating
on a spring, a mass oscillating on a
pendulum,
the oscillation in a string instrument) [PR]
Instructional strategies
SMART Board
presentation
Materials
SMART
Notebook
Wave Lab
Wave lab
handout
Slinkies
Spring coils
E3.1 distinguish between longitudinal and
transverse waves in different media, and
provide examples of both types of waves
Stop watches
E3.5 explain the relationship between the
speed
of sound in various media and the particle
nature of the media (e.g., the speed of
sound in
solids, liquids, and gases; the speed of
sound in
warm and cold air)
E2.4 investigate the relationship between
the
wavelength, frequency, and speed of a
wave,
and solve related problems [PR, AI]
Culminating
Activity
handout
Take up Test openly
Test solutions
SMART Board
Presentation
SMART
Notebook
Day 3
out of phase= totally out of phase)
 Period (on graph) and the frequency and
their mathematical relation ( f=1/T)
 Wave speed: v= length of a cycle/ time for
one cycle
 Derive v=lambda/T
f=1/T
therefore v=lambda f
 Dimensionally frequency= cycles/time
wavelength=distance/cycles
frequency X wavelength=
distance/time speed!
 Sample problems
 Factors that affect wave speed: Temperature
(cooler gasses and warmer gasses)
Linear density (mass per unit density) m/L
wave along a string: v=sqrt(FT/mu)
 Sample problem
 Questions. Pg 391 #1-3, 5,6
Assessment: homework questions
Speed of Sound, Intensity and Mach
 Categories of sound waves: audible,
infrasonic, ultrasonic
 Speed of sound in air (temp factor)
(equation)
 Sample problems
Measuring Speed of Sound Lab (old text block of
wood and echo)
Mach Number
 Ernst Mach
 No units, it’s a ratio of the speed of an object
to the speed of sound in the local area
E2.1 use appropriate terminology related
to
mechanical waves and sound, including,
but
not limited to: longitudinal wave,
transverse
wave, frequency, period, cycle, amplitude,
phase,
wavelength, velocity, superposition,
constructive
interference, destructive interference,
standing
waves, and resonance [C]
E2.2 conduct laboratory inquiries or
computer
simulations involving mechanical waves
Speed of Sound Lab (pg
244-246 Nelson 11)
Sound barrier breaking
Videos
SMART Board
Presentation
Lab Handout
Blocks of
wood
Measuring
wheel
Stop watch
Clipboards
Thermometer

So what’s the equation? M= airspeed of
object/ local speed of sound
 Mach number can change in a single flight
due to changes in air temperatures and
pressures
 Sample problem
 Special mention to Baumgartner (first human
to break sound barrier)
Speed of sound in different media
 Get students to guess order of speeds from
table 1 on pg. 395
 Fill in the table after with correct numbers
Questions
 Pg. 397 #2,3,10 (8 and 11 done at home
research required)
Assessment: Speed of Sound Lab, Mach Journal
entry
Day 4
SMART
Notebook
and
their interference (e.g., using a mass
oscillating
on a spring, a mass oscillating on a
pendulum,
the oscillation in a string instrument) [PR]
Videos
E2.3 plan and conduct inquiries to
determine the
speed of waves in a medium (e.g., a
vibrating
air column, an oscillating string of a
musical instrument),
compare theoretical and empirical
values, and account for discrepancies [IP,
PR, AI, C]
E3.5 explain the relationship between the
speed
of sound in various media and the particle
nature of the media (e.g., the speed of
sound in
solids, liquids, and gases; the speed of
sound in
warm and cold air)
E2.1 use appropriate terminology related
to
mechanical waves and sound, including,
but
not limited to: longitudinal wave,
transverse
wave, frequency, period, cycle, amplitude,
phase,
wavelength, velocity, superposition,
constructive
interference, destructive interference,
standing
waves, and resonance [C]
Sound Intensity
 Recall energy transfer of waves (related to
area)
 Recall rate of energy transfer is Power
(watts)
 Sound energy being transferred is sound
intensity W/m2
 More conveniently we use the bel or decibel
named after Alexander Bell
 Table 2 pg 395 for relative decibel readings
 Loudness and distance: energy is the same
but is acting on a larger area; show table 3 pg E2.2 conduct laboratory inquiries or
computer
396
simulations involving mechanical waves
Sound Safety
SMART Board
Presentation
SMART
Notebook
Gizmo
Gizmo
Handout
Doppler video
Computer Lab
or Laptops
Doppler video

Generally over 100dB for minutes at a time
will damage hearing
Doppler
 Show Fire engine video
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=imoxDcn2Sgo
)
 Doppler Effect: when a source of sound
approaches an observer, the observed
frequency of the sound increases; when the
source moves away from an observer, the
observed frequency of the sound decreases
 Waves are compressed upon approach
 Waves are further apart while moving away
 Not for all moving sources; source must be
moving at a reasonable fraction of the speed
of sound (~332 m/s)
 Source must have a velocity vector parallel
to the observer
 Equation
 Sample problem
Day 5
Gizmo- Doppler Effect
Assessment: Gizmo paper and Gizmo quiz
Quiz next day on previous topics
Quiz
Interference and Reflections
 Have two groups of students one with a
slinky and one with the spring doing
constructive and deconstructive
interference. (same translational pulses,
opposite translational pulses) Students write
their observations on the smart board.
 Show simulations of constructive and
and
their interference (e.g., using a mass
oscillating
on a spring, a mass oscillating on a
pendulum,
the oscillation in a string instrument) [PR]
E2.3 plan and conduct inquiries to
determine the
speed of waves in a medium (e.g., a
vibrating
air column, an oscillating string of a
musical instrument),
compare theoretical and empirical
values, and account for discrepancies [IP,
PR, AI, C]
E2.5 analyse the relationship between a
moving
source of sound and the change in
frequency
perceived by a stationary observer (i.e., the
Doppler effect) [AI]
E2.1 use appropriate terminology related
to
mechanical waves and sound, including,
but
not limited to: longitudinal wave,
transverse
wave, frequency, period, cycle, amplitude,
phase,
wavelength, velocity, superposition,
constructive
interference, destructive interference,
standing
Online simulations
SMART Board
Presentation
Internet
connection
SMART
Notebook
Video demos
Live demo
Ruben’s Tube
video
Long spring
deconstructive interference
http://www.sciencejoywagon.com/physicsz
one/09waves/
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeoacw1/wave_i
nterference.html
 Constructive interference: two or more
waves combine to form a wave with a larger
amplitude than the individual waves
 Deconstructive interference: two or more
waves that are out of phase combine to
form a wave with an amplitude less than at
least one of the initial waves
 Comes from the principle of superposition:
resulting amplitude of two interfering
waves is the sum of the amplitudes of the
original waves
o Supply some pictures of each
 Free End Reflections: a reflection that occurs
at a media boundary where the second
medium is less dense than the first medium;
reflections have the same orientation as the
original
 Fixed End Reflections: a reflection that
occurs at a media boundary where one end
of the medium is unable to vibrate;
reflections are inverted
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/wa
ve-on-a-string
 Media boundaries with different thicknesses
of rope; some transmission and some
reflection (use spring and slinky)
Standing Waves Demo- make different harmonics
(between fixed ends)
 Harmonics, overtones, nodes and anti-nodes,
waves, and resonance [C]
E3.3 explain and graphically illustrate the
principle
of superposition with respect to standing
waves
and beat frequencies
E3.4 identify the properties of standing
waves,
and, for both mechanical and sound waves,
explain the conditions required for standing
waves to occur
coil
slinkybh
Day 6
and diagrams
 Ruben’s tube video
Standing waves between free ends and Fixed-Free
ends
 Diagrams (relate to instruments)
Calculations
 Equations
 Sample Problem
Questions
 Pg. 419 #1-3
 Pg. 425 #1
 Pg. 426 #5, 6
Assessment: Small do now next day on interference
Interference questions
Beats and Resonance
 Beat: periodic change in sound intensity
caused by the interference between two
nearly identical sound waves
 Beat frequency
 Show graphs of individual and then
combined waves to form beats
o Sound generator on data studio
 Resonance demo by dropping different
objects
 Resonance note and lesson
 Resonance time warp video
Time to work on presentations/ Culminating task
(laptop cart available)
Homework
 Read pg. 450-452
 Questions: pg. 429 #2, 4
432 # 7a
453 #1
E2.1 use appropriate terminology related
to
mechanical waves and sound, including,
but
not limited to: longitudinal wave,
transverse
wave, frequency, period, cycle, amplitude,
phase,
wavelength, velocity, superposition,
constructive
interference, destructive interference,
standing
waves, and resonance [C]
E2.6 predict the conditions needed to
produce
resonance in vibrating objects or air
columns
(e.g., in a wind instrument, a string
instrument,
a tuning fork), and test their predictions
through inquiry [IP, PR, AI]
E3.2 explain the components of resonance,
and
identify the conditions required for
Time Warp Video
Demonstration
Data Studio Beat
Frequency experiment
SMART Board
Presentation
Free work time for
presentations
Time warp
video
different
objects that
makes
different
sounds when
dropped
different size
beakers
SMART
Notebook
Laptops
Handout
Assessment: Physics of Music Handout
Day 7
The Ear and Instruments and Acoustics
Start with the oscilloscope program up for students
to see as they enter the class.
Questions from homework from the past couple days
Music and sound quality, pitch and loudness
 Difference between music and noise
Musical instruments
 Stringed instruments (guitar)
o Resonator
o equation
 Wind instruments (trumpet)
o harmonics
 Percussion instruments (drum)
o Single indefinite pitch
o Multiple definite pitch
o Variable pitch
Acoustics
 Acoustics of a room
 Reverberation time
 Absorption materials
resonance to
occur in vibrating objects and in various
media
(e.g., with reference to a musical
instrument, a
child on a swing, the Tacoma Narrows
Bridge)
E3.3 explain and graphically illustrate the
principle
of superposition with respect to standing
waves
and beat frequencies
E1.1 analyse how properties of mechanical
waves
and sound influence the design of
structures
and technological devices (e.g., the
acoustical
design of a concert hall; the design of
headphones,
hearing aids, musical instruments,
wave pools) [AI, C]
E2.7 analyse the conditions required to
produce
resonance in vibrating objects and/or in air
columns
(e.g., in a string instrument, a tuning fork,
a wind instrument), and explain how
resonance
is used in a variety of situations (e.g., to
produce
different notes in musical instruments; to
limit
undesirable vibrations in suspension
bridges;
to design buildings so that they do not
resonate
at the frequencies produced by
earthquakes)
[AI, C]
Large model of the ear
Large Ear
model
WinScope program
WINSCOPE
Demonstration
Guitar
SMART Notebook
Wind
instrument
Drum
Boomwhacker
s


Acoustical spaces
Acoustical shadow
Ear model present for visual and tactile learners.
Lesson on the ear and how hearing happens via
handout and labelling of the different parts.
 Make sure to highlight the most
important parts of the ear for study
purposes
 Hearing is a series of vibrations in
connecting parts of the ear.
read pg. 462
questions: pg 460 #4
463 # 1-3
Assessment: questions with the Boomwackers done
vocally and informally
Day 8
Applications (structure, seismic, aircrafts, rockets,
animals)
Student presentations
 Students should be making notes because
there are application questions on their test
and exam
 Peer marking sheets
Handout practice test
Assessment: Presentations
E1.1 analyse how properties of mechanical
waves
and sound influence the design of
structures
and technological devices (e.g., the
acoustical
design of a concert hall; the design of
headphones,
hearing aids, musical instruments,
wave pools) [AI, C]
E1.2 analyse the negative impact that
mechanical
waves and/or sound can have on society
and
the environment, and assess the
effectiveness of
a technology intended to reduce this impact
[AI, C]
Student Presentations
Student
access to
projector
Practice test
E3.2 explain the components of resonance,
and
identify the conditions required for
resonance to
occur in vibrating objects and in various
media
(e.g., with reference to a musical
instrument, a
child on a swing, the Tacoma Narrows
Bridge)
E3.6 explain selected natural phenomena
(e.g.,
echo location, or organisms that produce or
receive infrasonic, audible, or ultrasonic
sound)
with reference to the characteristics and
properties
of waves
Day 9
Review
Review Powerpoint with
clickers
Take up practice test and any questions for the test
that they have tomorrow
Powerpoint
presentation
Clickers
Day 10
Textbook questions (Chapter Review)
Test
Test
Test
Day 11
Work on culminating task
Student solo work
Computer lab/
laptops

All pages references unless stated otherwise are from the New Nelson Physics 11 textbook (black cover)