Worksheet 14.

1
Waves: speed, frequency and wavelength
Practise using the equation that links the speed, frequency and wavelength
of a wave.
Notes
There are many types of wave. For each type, wave speed, frequency and wavelength are
related by this equation:
wave speed = frequency wavelength
Questions
1 A student observes some ripples in a ripple tank. She notes that 20 waves occupy a distance
of 4.8 cm. What is their wavelength?
2 Calculate the speed of sound in air if a sound of frequency 220 Hz has a wavelength
of1.50 m.
3 Sound has a speed of 1500 m/s in water. Calculate the wavelength of sound waves of
frequency 480 Hz in water.
4 When ripples travel into shallower water, their wavelength decreases. Their frequency
remains constant.
a Does their speed increase, decrease or stay the same?
When light waves travel from air into glass, their speed decreases. Their frequency
remainsconstant.
b Does their wavelength increase, decrease or stay the same?
c How do light waves change when they travel from glass into air?
5 Red light of wavelength 6.50 107 m travels through air, where its speed is 3.0 108 m/s.
a What is its frequency?
b What will its wavelength become in glass, where its speed is 2.1 108 m/s?
6 Ultrasound waves are sometimes used to clean small items of jewellery, which are
immersed in water and subjected to ultrasound. What is the wavelength of ultrasound
waves of frequency 40 kHz in water? Give your answer in cm. (Speed of ultrasound in
water = 1500 m/s.)

Cambridge University Press 2014 IGCSE Physics

Worksheet 14.1