Wave Properties

Behaviour of Waves
Lesson 1: Types of Waves

Lesson 2: Wave Speed
Reflection
Lesson 3: Refraction
Total Internal Reflection
Lesson 4: Refraction in Water
Lesson 5: Refractive Index
Lesson 6: Refraction in Water
Lesson 7: Refractive Index
Lesson 8: Diffraction
Lesson 9: Transmitting Information
Lesson 10: Sound
Stopwatch Graph Home

Syllabus Double Award
Properties of waves
describe longitudinal and transverse waves in ropes, springs and water where appropriate
state the meaning of amplitude, frequency, wavelength and period of a wave
recall that waves transfer energy and information without transferring matter
recall and use the relationship between the speed, frequency and wavelength of a wave:
wave speed = frequency wavelength
v =f
use the relationship between frequency and time period:
frequency = 1 / time period
f =1/T
use the above relationships in different contexts including sound waves and electromagnetic waves
Light and sound
recall that light waves are transverse waves which can be reflected and refracted
recall that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection
construct ray diagrams to illustrate the formation of a virtual image in a plane mirror
describe experiments to investigate the refraction of light, using rectangular blocks,
semicircular blocks and triangular prisms
recall and use the relationship between refractive index, angle of incidence and angle of refraction
n = sin (i) / sin (r)
describe an experiment to determine the refractive index of glass, using a glass block
describe the role of total internal reflection in transmitting information along optical fibres and in prisms
recall and use the relationship between critical angle and refractive index
sin c = 1 / n
recall that sound waves are longitudinal waves which can be reflected
recall that the frequency range for human hearing is 20 Hz 20 000 Hz
describe how to measure the speed of sound in air by a simple direct method

Syllabus Separate Science
Properties of waves
describe longitudinal and transverse waves in ropes, springs and water where appropriate
state the meaning of amplitude, frequency, wavelength and period of a wave
recall that waves transfer energy and information without transferring matter
recall and use the relationship between the speed, frequency and wavelength of a wave:
wave speed = frequency wavelength
v=f
use the relationship between frequency and time period:
frequency = 1 / time period
f=1/T
use the above relationships in different contexts including sound waves and electromagnetic waves
understand that waves can be diffracted through gaps or when they pass an edge, and that the extent of diffraction depends on
the wavelength and the physical dimension of the gap
Light and sound
recall that light waves are transverse waves which can be reflected, refracted and diffracted
recall that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection
construct ray diagrams to illustrate the formation of a virtual image in a plane mirror
describe experiments to investigate the refraction of light, using rectangular blocks, semicircular blocks and triangular prisms
recall and use the relationship between refractive index, angle of incidence and angle of refraction
n = sin(i) / sin(r)
describe an experiment to determine the refractive index of glass, using a glass block
describe the role of total internal reflection in transmitting information along optical fibres and in prisms
recall the meaning of critical angle c
recall and use the relationship between critical angle and refractive index
sin c = 1 / n
understand the difference between analogue and digital signals
recall that sound waves are longitudinal waves which can be reflected, refracted and diffracted
recall that the frequency range for human hearing is 20 Hz 20 000 Hz
describe how to measure the speed of sound in air by a simple direct method
understand how an oscilloscope and microphone can be used to display a sound wave
use an oscilloscope to determine the frequency of a sound wave and appreciate that the pitch of a sound depends on the
frequency of vibration
appreciate that the pitch of a sound depends on the frequency of vibration of the source
appreciate that the loudness of a sound depends on the amplitude of vibration
Types of Waves 05/18/17
Aims
To define the properties of waves
To identify the types of waves
Starter: True or False

1) Sound travels faster than light
2) Sound travels faster in solid objects than in liquids or air
3) Echoes are caused by sound waves bouncing of walls
4) Sound waves are caused by the vibration of molecules
5) Sound travels faster at the top of Mt. Everest
6) Light waves bounce off walls

A Wave
Waves transfer energy from one place to
another
The disturbance moves along the wave not the
particles

A wave in the sea:
disturbance is molecules of water going up and down
medium = water

A Mexican Wave
The Disturbance is the people going up and down.
The medium is the crowd.

Frequency
Count the number of complete = 1 Hertz
vibrations in ten
seconds and then work out the frequency of this wave
Frequency = 1.4 Hertz
Ten second timer Frequency = 0.5 Hertz

Note that the waves are carrying energy from one
place to another but the water particles are not
transferred.
previous next Stopwatch Graph Home

Frequency
Number of waves per second
Either passing one point or generated
Symbol: f
Units: Hz (s-1)

Period
This is the duration of a wave
How long it takes for one wave to occur
Symbol: T
Units: s

We often need to analyse waveforms produced b
scientific instruments.
For example:- A Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO)
is used to monitor heartbeats.
1 second Steady Steve
0.5seconds Helen Heart-attack
David Deadman
Heart monitor time
Pictures of waves (waveforms)
1 mains voltage waveform 0.02 seconds
2 tuning fork 2.5milliseconds (0.0025second
3 Ultrasonic scanner 10 micro seconds
(0.00001 seconds)
Work out the frequency for these 3 waveforms

Which animals made these sounds?
Pictures of waves (waveforms) Stopwatch Graph Home

1 Cow 0.004 seconds
2 Baby crying
0.5milliseconds (0.0005seconds)
3 Bat 10 micro seconds
(0.00001 seconds)
Pictures of waves (waveforms) Stopwatch Graph Home
Wavelength

Wavelength
The length of one complete wave
peak to peak or trough to trough
Symbol:
Units: m

Which of the points is exactly one wavelength
away from point A?Answer is E
F
A B E G
C D
The next 5 tasks will test to see if you have
understood the idea of wavelength

1 Match the highlighted letter to one which is ex
one wavelength away from it.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V WX

2 Match the highlighted letter to one which is e




Amplitude
maximum disturbance caused by a wave
measured from the middle to a peak or trough
symbol: a
units: m

Questions about amplitude
Match the waveforms to the sounds
A B C
D F
1 an echo
2 a crescendo
3 a weak regular heartbeat Click for
4 a strong regular heartbeat answers
5 a symbol being struck

Transverse Waves

Transverse Wave

Transverse Wave
The disturbance is perpendicular to the direction of
movement
Example Light

Longitudinal Waves

Longitudinal Waves
The disturbance is parallel to the direction of movement
Aka: pressure, compression waves
Example sound
Sketch on board

Wave Behaviour recap
Aim
To define the properties of waves
To identify the types of waves

Wave Speed 18/05/17
Aim:
To calculate the speed of waves
To Revise Reflection
Starter:
Draw a transverse wave in rough and label the
wavelength and amplitude
The frequency of a wave is 5 Hz what is its Period?
(check back in your book if you need to)
How fast the wave is travelling
Symbol v
Units m/s

ENERGY
speed
VIBRATIONS
The speed is how fast the disturbance travels

(how fast the energy is transferred)

speed
ENERGY
speed
Notice that both waves have the same speed bu

different wavelengths and frequencies. The wav
equation can explain this mathematically.
Calculating the Speed of Wave
Speed = Distance
Time
An explosion happens 1000m away and takes 3
seconds to reach you what is the speed of sound?
Speed = Distance
Time
Speed = 1000
3
= 333 m/s

Wave speed, wavelength and frequency are
related by the wave equation

The Wave Equation
The wave equation relates the speed of the wave to its
frequency and wavelength:
Wave speed (v) = frequency (f) x wavelength ()

in m/s in Hz in m
Worksheet f

Practice Questions:
Write out the variables (ie frequency = ) and the equations used
1. A water wave travels through a pond with a frequency of 5Hz and they are 10
m apart. How fast are they travelling?
2. Ricky hears a thunderclap that makes his ear drum vibrate at 165 Hz. The
wavelength of the sound is 2 m how fast is the sound wave travelling?
3. Hannah sings an A, she knows the wavelength of the sound wave is 1.5m. How
many times does her vocal chords vibrate per second? (hint: you need the
answer to question 2)
4. Hannah plays another note on her guitar, the string vibrates with a frequency
of 300 Hz what is the duration (the period) of each vibration of the string?
5. Jon has been running his heart is beating 180 times a minute. What is the
frequency and period of his heart beats.
6. Jack throws a stone into the centre of a pond. The pond has a radius of 4m.
He notices that it takes 2 seconds for the wave to reach the edge. He thinks
the wavelength of the ripple is about 1m. What is the frequency of his
ripple? What is the period of the ripple?
7. Purple light has a wavelength of around 6x10 -7m. If its frequency is 5x1014
Hz what is the speed of light?
8. Red light travels at the same speed. Work out its frequency if its wavelength
is about 4x10-7m.
Reflection
Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection
Normal
Incident ray Reflected ray
Angle of Angle of
incidence reflection
Mirror
Movie Worksheet Stopwatch Graph Home
Ultrasound
generator
high frequency
electrical signal
monitor
Contact
transducer Echoes are changed back into
gel
changes the electrical
electrical signals. These are
signal into processed and imaged on the
an ultrasonic monitor
pulse

Ultrasound
generator
(4.5 months)
monitor
speed of ultrasound inside the body

time for the ultrasound to travel
and partly reflected ultrasonic waves from

boundaries can be processed to produce an
image of the foetus Click to start the scan

Wave Speed recap
Aim:
To calculate the speed of waves
To Revise Reflection

Refraction 18/05/17
Aims:
To demonstrate refraction
To explain the cause of refraction
To observe total internal reflection
Starter:
Why does the magic trick of the Disappearing Coin work?
Home
Refraction at a Boundary

Refraction
Refraction is when waves ____ __ or slow down due to
changing _________. A medium is something that waves
will travel through.
Movie

Refraction
Method: through a glass block:
1) Place a rectangular block of glass or Perspex in the middle
of a page on your book and draw around it.
2) Draw a normal line a third along one of the long sides
3) Draw a line at 20 to this normal to mark the incident ray.
4) Use a ray box and single slit to shine a ray of light along
the path you have marked for the incident ray.
5) Mark two dots on the path of the refracted ray with a
pencil. Join the dots with a ruler to show the path of the
refracted ray.
6) Remove the block and draw the
path taken by the ray of light
inside the block.

This wheel
This wheel continues to slows first
move fast
The cars The car

direction travels
changes slower on
the sand
than tarmac
This wheel The cars direction
speeds up changes

Refraction through a glass block:
Wave slows down and bends

towards the normal due to
entering a more dense medium
Wave slows down but is

not bent, due to entering
along the normal
Wave speeds up and bends

away from the normal due to
entering a less dense medium Movie Worksheet
What is total internal reflection?
Method:
1) Place a semi circular block of glass or
Perspex in the middle of a sheet of
plain paper and draw around it.
2) Draw a normal line at the middle of the
flat side
3) Use a ray box and single slit to shine a
ray of light to the normal line
4) Change the angle of the ray of light
until total internal reflection if found.
5) Then change the angle until the light is
refracted along the horizontal side.
6) Mark two dots on the path of the
refracted ray with a pencil. Join the
dots with a ruler to show the path of
the refracted ray.
6) Measure the critical angle
Total internal reflection simulation

Why is angle of incidence important?
If the angle of If the angle of If the angle of

incidence is incidence equals the incidence is greater
smaller than the critical angle, then than the critical angle,
critical angle, the light ray is then total internal
then the light refracted along the reflection occurs.
ray is refracted. boundary.

Is the critical angle always the same?
The critical angle is the smallest angle of incidence at which total
internal reflection occurs.
Different materials have a specific value for the critical angle:
Material Critical angle
water 49
acrylic plastic 42
glass 41
diamond 24
Diamond has the lowest critical angle at 24.

This means that diamond reflects more light than the other
materials and accounts for its characteristic sparkle.

Total Internal Reflection

How do optical fibres carry light?
Optical fibres do not have to be straight to carry light and can even
carry light around corners.
This curved Perspex

rod shows how light
travels in an optical
fibre.
Light travels through the Perspex rod, and optical fibres, by a

process called total internal reflection.

Total Internal Reflection recap
Aims:
To describe the effect of the critical angle
To know some uses of the critical angle
Home
Refraction in Water 18/05/17
Aim
Experimentally determine the effect of water depth
on speed and establish if there is a relationship
between the two

Experiment: Wave Speed
You are expected to:
Write a method
Draw a graph of results
Write a analysis / conclusion
Write an evaluation
Overview:
Work out what you are going to do before you start
You need at least 6 different depths for a graph
The effect is only noticed on small depths (mm not cm)
You need to make sure that the effect is not drowned out by
your reaction time
You need to make sure that one mistake does not ruin your
results

Refractive Index 18/05/17
Aim
Experimentally determine the refractive index of glass
describe an experiment to determine the refractive
index of glass

Finding the Refractive Index of Glass
Method:
Draw around the semi circular block.
Draw a normal line in the middle of the straight edge of the block.
Draw Incident lines every 10 from 0 to 70
Use a ray box to send incident rays into the semi circular box and
mark out the refracted rays.
Measure the refracted angles
Results:
Create a table of the incident, refracted angles, sin i, and sin r.
Plot a graph of sin i (x) against sin r (y)

Work To Do:
Results:
Create a table of the incident, refracted angles, sin i,
and sin r.
Plot a graph of sin i (x) against sin r (y)
Analysis
What shape is your graph?
Add an extra column to your table with the heading
refractive index (n)
n = sin(i) sin (r)
Calculate the gradient of your graph
The critical angle of glass (c) = 41
Calculate sin(c)

Equations to Learn:
A measure of how much light is refracted (bends) in a
material.
glass n = 1.6
Diamond n = 2.5
incident angle
Refractive index (n):
n = sin i
sin r
Critical Angle (c):
refracted angle
sin c = 1
n
Critical angle

Refractive Index recap
Aim
Experimentally determine the refractive index of glass
describe an experiment to determine the refractive
index of glass

Separate Science
Diffraction 18/05/17
Aims:
To define diffraction
To see reflection and refraction in water waves
Starter:
Worksheet

Separate Science

Separate Science
Water waves
are reflected
by the barrier Barrier

Separate Science

Separate
The waves slow downScience
Ripple tank when they reach the
model shallow water
The wavelength gets

Deep water shorter
But the frequency

stays the same
Can you understand

Shallow water what is happening
here? HINT remember
the wave equation

If the waves reach
Separate the
Science
Water waves shallow water at an
angle the waves still
slow down.
The waves also
change direction.
We call this effect
refraction.
Deep water
Shallow water

Separate Science

Separate Science
Diffraction is the spreading out of waves at

edges and gaps.
All types of waves can be diffracted.
The amount of diffraction is affected by the
size of the gap and the wavelength.

Separate Science

Separate Science

Separate Science

Separate Science
Small amount of
spreading (diffraction)
The wavelength of the

waves is much smaller
than the size of the gap

Separate Science
The wavelength is the
same size as the gap
so there is very good
spreading (diffraction)

Separate Science
For Edges
Long wavelengths diffract more than short
wavelengths.
For Gaps
The wavelength should be the same size
as the gap to get good diffraction.

Separate Science
Speed of sound in air = 330m/s
Typical frequency = 440Hertz
Work out the wavelength of these sound waves
Speed = wavelength x frequency
Wavelength = speed/frequency
Wavelength = 330/440 = 0.75metres
About the same size as the width of a door

Separate Science
To get spreading (diffraction) of the light

the gap it passes through has to be very
small-because the wavelength of light is
very small

Separate Science

Separate Science

Separate Science
The aerial is on a pole

to try and improve the
reception of radio waves.

Separate Science

Separate Science

Separate Science
There is very little diffraction of short wavelength
radio waves when they pass between two hills

Separate Science
Long wavelength radio waves are more likely to be
diffracted when they pass between hills and are
more likely to be detected by the aerial.

Separate Science

Separate Science
Copy and complete this email:
To mrsmith@poorreception.co.uk
You are having difficulty with the signal strength on your
short wave radio because
Helpful words/phrases to use: long wavelength

short wavelength, diffracted, gap, edge.
Copy and complete the diagrams to illustrate your
answer.

Separate Science
B
A
Which of these show how rays are

(a) reflected? (b) diffracted at a gap?
(c) refracted? (d) diffracted at an edge?

Separate Science
Which of these show how waves are

(a) reflected? (b) diffracted at a gap?
(c) refracted? (d) diffracted at an edge?
Diffraction recap
Aims:
To define diffraction
Worksheet
Home
Separate Science
Transmitting Information 18/05/17
Aim
To explain the difference between analogue and digital
signals

Separate Science
What is an analogue signal?
Most of the signals sensed by humans are analogue signals. Everyday
examples include sound, light and temperature.
An analogue signal may have any value within a

continuous range.
voltage
time

Separate Science
What is a digital signal?
Modern communication systems carry information from
analogue signals as digital signals.
A digital signal only contains two values: 0 (off) and 1 (on).

These are used to encode analogue information.
current
time

Separate Science
Converting analogue to digital

Separate Science
Why do analogue signals lose quality?
All types of signals lose strength as they travel. This is called
attenuation and means that signals often have to be amplified so
they can be used.
Signals can also pick up noise (interference).
original attenuated amplified

Separate Science
Why dont digital signals lose quality?
Digital signals also lose strength and need to be amplified.
original attenuated amplified
threshold
regenerated
Digital vs Analogue
Analogue signals are continually changing.
Digital signals are either zero or one
This means if the signal gets distorted you can work out
the digital signal (it should either be zero or one) but
you will not be able to tell the original analogue signal

Separate Science
Analogue or digital?

Separate Science
Communications matching activity

Separate Science
Opinions on analogue and digital

Separate Science
Whats in a cable of optical fibres?

Separate Science
How do messages travel along optical fibres?

Separate Science
Sending messages

Separate Science
Optical fibres true or false?

Transmitting Information recap
Aim
To explain the difference between analogue and digital
signals

Sound 18/05/17
Aim
Measure the Speed of Sound
Know the human hearing range

Which animals hear the lowest and the highest
frequencies?
Which animal has the largest hearing range?
100,000
10,000
1,000
frequency
(Hz) 100
10
0
human dog bat elephant mouse dolphin
Sound
The human hearing range is from 20 20 000 Hz
Its best range is at age 8
the pitch of a sound depends on the frequency of vibration of the
source
the loudness of a sound depends on the amplitude of vibration
A B C D
Which sound is:
The quietest
The loudest
The highest
The lowest
Speed of sound experiment
This investigation to calculate the speed of sound
should be carried out in a quiet open space.
START STOP
0 0 :0 0 30 04
100 m
1. When you see the cymbals crash, press START.

2. When you hear the cymbals crash, press STOP.

Speed of sound experiment results table
Look at the results of the sound experiment.
Experiment distance time speed

(m) (s) (m/s)
1 100 0.34 294
How are these values used to estimate the speed of sound?

distance 100
speed = = = 294 m/s
time 0.34

Speed of Sound Experiment
Write a method for our speed of sound experiment
Write out the results
Calculate the speed of sound
Are our results accurate?
Why might they not be?

Movie CB

Wave Properties

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Behaviour of Waves

Lesson 1: Types of Waves

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Starter: True or False

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Frequency = 1.4 Hertz

Ten second timer Frequency = 0.5 Hertz

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previous next Stopwatch Graph Home

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0.5seconds Helen Heart-attack

2 tuning fork 2.5milliseconds (0.0025second

3 Ultrasonic scanner 10 micro seconds

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Pictures of waves (waveforms) Stopwatch Graph Home

3 Bat 10 micro seconds

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The speed is how fast the disturbance travels

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Notice that both waves have the same speed bu

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Wave speed (v) = frequency (f) x wavelength ()

Incident ray Reflected ray

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speed of ultrasound inside the body

and partly reflected ultrasonic waves from

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The cars The car

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Wave slows down and bends

Wave slows down but is

Wave speeds up and bends

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If the angle of If the angle of If the angle of

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Different materials have a specific value for the critical angle:

Material Critical angle

Diamond has the lowest critical angle at 24.