Wav e s a n d S o u n d s FURTHER QUESTIONS
1 Kim and Sam are playing with a ball in the park.
Unfortunately the ball finishes up in the middle of
a pond, out of reach.
Kim thinks that hitting the water with a stick will
make waves that will push the ball to the other side.
a Which two of these words best describe the
waves that are created on the water surface?
circular longitudinal plane pressure transverse
 [2]
b Kim hits the water surface regularly so that
waves travel out to the ball and beyond it.
i What happens to the ball? [1]
Sam throws a stick which hits the ball at P.
ii Sam is successful at moving the ball across
the pond. Kim is not. Explain why. [2]
c i Kim hits the water surface regularly with
the stick 20 times in 10 seconds. Calculate
the frequency of the waves. [2]
ii The waves travel across the pond at 0.5 m/s.
Calculate the wavelength. [4]
2 a The wave in the shallow tank of water shown in
the figure moves at 0.08 m/s towards the left.
water wave
X
water
tank
Y
0.6 m
How long does it take for the wave to return to the
position XY, but moving to the right? [3]
b A man is cutting down a tree with an axe. He
hears the echo of the impact of the axe hitting
the tree after 1.6 s.
i What sort of obstacle could have caused the
echo? [1]
ii The speed of sound is 330 m/s. How far is
the tree from the obstacle?
c Distinguish between the nature of the sound
wave in b and the water wave in a. [2]
© OUP: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute
3 The figure shows a cathode-ray oscilloscope trace
for a sound wave produced by a loudspeaker.
a Copy the figure and draw the trace for a louder
sound of the same pitch. [2]
b It takes 1/50th of a second (0.02 s) for the whole
trace to be produced.
i Show that the frequency of the sound
produced by the loudspeaker is 100 Hz.
ii Determine the wavelength in air of the
sound produced by the loudspeaker. (The
speed of sound in air is 330 m/s.) [3]
4 a A sound wave travelling through air can be
represented as shown in the diagram.
A D
displacement
of air particles
distance from
B C source
Which distance, A, B, C, or D, represents:
i one wavelength?
ii the amplitude of the wave? [2]
b The cone of a loudspeaker is vibrating. The
diagram shows how the air particles are spread
out in front of the cone at a certain time.
loudspeaker
P Q
P is a compression, Q is a rarefaction.
i Describe how the pressure in the air
changes from P to Q. [2]
ii Describe the motion of the air particles as
the sound wave passes. [2]
iii Copy the diagram of air particles above
and mark and label a distance equal to one
wavelength of the sound wave. [1]
5 a The first diagram on the next page shows a wave.
i Copy the diagram and mark the amplitude,
and label it A. [1]
Wav e s a n d S o u n d s
FURTHER QUESTIONS
ii State the number of cycles (‘wavelengths’)
shown in the diagram. [1]
iii* This complete wave was produced in 0.15 s.
 Calculate the period (time for one wave).[1]
1
iv* Use the equation frequency (Hz)  _________
​     ​ 
period (s)
to calculate the frequency of the wave. [1]
b i Sound is a longitudinal wave. Explain what
is meant by a longitudinal wave. [2]
ii If the amplitude of a sound wave is increased,
what difference would you hear? [1]
6
cone
ball movement loudspeaker
A light polystyrene ball is shown hanging very close
to a loudspeaker. The loudspeaker gives out a sound
of low frequency and the ball is seen to vibrate.
a Explain how the sound from the loudspeaker
causes the ball to move as described. [2]
b Explain what will happen to the motion of the
cone of the loudspeaker when:
i the sound is made louder [1]
ii the pitch of the sound is increased. [1]
c Calculate the frequency of a sound which has
a wavelength of 0.5 m and travels at a speed of
340 m/s in air. Write down the formula that you
use and show your working. [3]
7 a The figure shows a metal rod, 2.4 m long, being
struck a sharp blow at one end using a light
hammer. The time interval between the impact of
the hammer and the arrival of the sound wave at
the other end of the rod is measured electronically.
metal rod
2.4 m
hammer
© OUP: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute
Four measurements of the time interval are
0.44 ms, 0.50 ms, 0.52 ms and 0.47 ms.
i Determine the average value of the four
measurements.
ii Hence calculate a value for the speed of
sound in the rod. [4]
8 a A microphone is connected to an oscilloscope
(CRO). When different sounds, A, B, and C,
are made, these are the waveforms seen on the
screen:
A
B C
a Comparing sounds A and B, how would they
sound different? [2]
b Comparing sounds A and C, how would they
sound different? [2]
c Which sound has the highest amplitude? [1]
d Which sound has the highest frequency? [1]
e The speed of sound is 330 m/s. If sound A has a
frequency of 220 Hz, what is its wavelength? [2]
f What is the frequency of sound C? [2]
9 Ultrasound waves are high frequency longitudinal
waves. X-rays are high frequency transverse waves.
a Explain the difference between transverse and
longitudinal waves. [2]
b The diagram shows an ultrasound probe used
to obtain an image of an unborn baby.
mother’s abdominal wall
ultrasound probe
Give two reasons why ultrasound and not
X-rays are used for this investigation. [2]
c* Describe one industrial use of ultrasonic waves.
 [2]