Topic 4 Invisible waves

Answers to activities
Topic opener
Thinking about communication
1. Responses will vary. An example is given here.

2. Responses will vary.

3. (a) Responses will vary.

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(b) Radio signals replaced Morse code; its major advantage over Morse signalling was
that the signals did not need a system of wires or transmission lines to travel along —
they travelled through the air; the signals also travelled faster.
4. Removing the air does not prevent the radio wave from reaching the phone, as radio
waves do not need a medium in which to propagate; however, you will not hear the
mobile phone ringing in the vacuum chamber as sound waves must have a medium (such
as air) to carry them. Note that if you were to place the mobile phone with the speaker in
contact with the inside of the glass chamber, you would be able to hear the phone ring as
the sound waves would be able to travel through the glass and into the air around the
vacuum chamber and to your ear.

4.2 Waves — carriers of energy

Remember
1. All sound waves are caused by vibrations.
2.

3. A compression is a region in which particles are pushed together closer than usual,
whereas a rarefaction is a region in which particles are spread out more than usual.
4. In empty spaces there are no particles. For a sound to be produced, there need to be
particles that can be vibrated.
5. The ear collects the energy of the vibrating air and changes it to electrical signals that are
sent to the brain.
6. Frequency is a measure of the number of complete vibrations (or waves) per second; the
unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz).
7. Pitch

Think
8. Transverse wave because the motion of the individuals (up and down) is perpendicular to
the direction of travel of the wave.

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9. The canals are in different positions (along the 3 spatial axes) to help detect the difference
between forward and backward, up and down, and left and right movements.
10. (a) The higher the density of the material, the faster the sound waves are able to travel
through it.
(b) Density is a measure of how closely packed particles in the material are. The more
closely packed the particles are, the easier it is for sound waves to travel through it
and so the faster the wave can travel.
11. Wavelength is 6 cm; amplitude is 2 cm.

4.3 Light
Remember
1. (a) Sound waves and electromagnetic waves both transfer energy from one place to
another.
(b) Electromagnetic waves do not need a medium through which to travel — they are able
to travel through a vacuum; sound waves can’t travel through regions where there are
no particles; electromagnetic waves travel much faster than sound waves;
electromagnetic waves travel as transverse waves while sound waves travel as
compressional waves.
2. Refraction is an optical effect where light changes speed and bends when it enters a
medium with a different refractive index.
3. (a) A concave lens causes light rays to diverge.
(b) A convex lens causes light rays to converge.
4. You see a beam of light when particles in the substance through which it is travelling
scatter the light.
5. (a) Most of the light travels through the substance.
(b) Just enough light travels through the substance to enable you to detect objects on the
other side. However, you cannot see them clearly.
(c) All of the light is absorbed or reflected.

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Topic 4 answers to activities 4

Think
6.

7. The jeweller can measure the refractive properties of the suspect piece and compare it to
those of a real diamond.
8.

9. The image of the head of the fish will lie somewhere on the dotted line of sight shown in
the diagram below. This image is behind the real fish, so the spear should be aimed in
front of the image.

Calculate
10. distance =150 000 000 km
speed of light = 300 000 km/s
time = 150 000 000 km ÷ 300 000 km/s = 500 s (i.e. about 8 minutes)

4.4 Colour vision

1. Cornea and the lens
2. A short-sighted person has difficulty getting a sharp image of distant objects.

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Topic 4 answers to activities 5

3. The lens becomes thicker; this decreases the focal length of the lens so that the light rays
coming from the nearer object are bent to a greater degree so that an image forms on the
retina rather than behind it.

4. When looking at distant objects where the rays from the object enter the eye almost
parallel, the eye is at its most relaxed and has its greatest focal length (about 2.5 cm).
When the light rays enter the eye from a near object however, they are diverging so they
must be bent more in order to focus on the retina. This means that the focal length of the
lens must be decreased, so the ciliary muscles contract, pushing the lens into a more
rounded shape.
5. Red, blue and green
6. The dilator and sphincter muscles in the iris control the size of the pupil through which
light enters the interior of the eye.
7. This can be proved by passing white light through a prism.
Think
8. (a) It reflects blue light back to the observer’s eye.
(b) It reflects the visible spectrum back to the observer’s eye
(c) No light is reflected back to the observer’s eye from the object.
9. The red glass acts like a filter. When white light is incident on the glass, only the red part
of the spectrum is able to pass through it to our eyes; the other colours are absorbed.

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Topic 4 answers to activities 6

10. Cataract surgery involves the removal of the patient’s clouded lens and the insertion of a
polymer or acrylic lens. Unlike the original, the artificial lens is rigid and the ciliary
muscles are not able to change its shape, allowing accommodation of vision. Note that in
earlier versions of the cataract operation, no artificial lens was installed at all. Instead, the
refraction normally done by the lens was managed by converging lenses in the form of
spectacles.
Analyse
11. (a)

(b) Approximately 8 cm
(c) It decreases more rapidly as a person gets older. For the group represented in the table
this is between 50 and 60 years.

4.5 The communication revolution

Remember
1. Digital signals are added as a series of pulses. Each pulse can be either ‘on’ or ‘off’.
Analogue signals are added as continuously changing amplitudes or frequencies. The
amplitudes or frequencies can have any value.
2. (a) Advantages include (three required):
• sharper images and ‘ghost free’ reception

• widescreen pictures

• better quality sound

• capability of ‘surround’ sound

• capability of interactive television

• electronic program guides

• access to the internet and email.

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(b) Both analogue and digital signals spread out and become weaker over distance. As
analogue signals become weaker, their amplitude decreases. Background radiation
and signals from other sources distort the shape of the wave more and more as it
weakens. This doesn’t happen to digital pulses, because even if they are weak, they
can still only be on and off. All of the information they carry is still there until they
have faded away to nothing. Digital signals are therefore less affected by interference
and background radiation noise. As a result they provide sharper images and better
sound. They can also carry more information.
3. (a) central copper core
(b) outer conductor (made of copper or aluminium wire braiding)
4. Repeater stations receive the signals and send them on. Without them, signals would fade
away and fail to reach their destinations.
5.

Refractive index of core > refractive index of cladding

6. Total internal reflection can occur when light is passing from one medium into another
medium in which its speed is increased; for example, going from water into air.
7. The electrical signals are converted into pulses of light.
8. There is no cable between the telephone and the communication network. The signals are
transmitted directly to a base station.
9. The base stations are set up in a network of hexagonal cells.
Think
10. As with microwaves, the signal fades away before it reaches its destination, unless
repeater stations are used to receive the signal and send it on.
11. It is cheaper to build repeater stations than it is to bury cables under the ground. The
erection of repeater towers probably interferes less with the environment.
12. So that they are above the same point on Earth at all times and can reliably receive and
transmit signals.

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13. (a) Watch or clock with hands

(b) Car speedometer with needle
(c) Spring balance or bathroom scales
(d) pH paper or universal indicator (not litmus paper)
14. Answers will vary to some extent as some advantages and disadvantages are a matter of
opinion. Some examples are in the table below.

15. The total internal reflection that keeps the light pulse inside the fibre is the result of light
bending, or refracting, as it reaches a boundary between the inner core and the glass
cladding of the fibre. The light bends so much that it is reflected.
Looking back
1. (a) Heat is transferred through conduction in the metal base of a pot.
(b) Heat is transferred by convection through the water in a pot.
2.

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3.

4. (a) Sound waves can’t travel through completely empty space because sound waves are
transmitted via the particles of a medium and empty space contains no particles.
(b) Light waves are able to travel through empty space because they don’t need particles
to travel. Light travels as electromagnetic waves and this can happen in empty space.
5.

6.

7. When the light ray passes from the air into the glass, its speed decreases, causing it to be
refracted towards the normal.

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8. As a result of refraction at the water–air boundary, the light reflected from the bottom of
your legs appears to be coming from above where it is really coming from. Diagram
should be similar to that shown on p. 135 of textbook.
9. A thin convex lens has a greater focal length because it does not bend the light as much.

10.

11. (a) Myopia

(b) Spreads light out (diverges it) before it reaches the cornea so that it forms an image on
the retina instead of in front of it.
(c)

12. Answers will vary — creative response.

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13. The eye is able to focus on both near and distant objects by the process of
accommodation. In this process, ciliary muscles around the flexible lens change its shape.
When the lens is relaxed in shape, images of distant objects are able to be focused onto
the retina. When the lens is made to bulge and become thicker in the middle, the focal
length shortens, allowing images of objects close to the eye to be formed clearly on the
retina.
14. Different colours are interpreted by the brain in terms of which proportion and
combination of the red, blue and green receptors it receives signals from. For example,
when we observe an object which is yellow, the light from that object stimulates red and
green receptors in the retina which the brain interprets as yellow.
15. When white light passes through a blue filter all colours are absorbed except blue.
16. (a) When blue paint is illuminated by white light, blue light is reflected from it. The other
primary colours are absorbed.
(b) A white shirt can look red if the lighting at a dance or concert is red because white
reflects the colour of light that is incident upon it.
(c) A green shirt reflects only green light. It absorbs the other primary colours. If the
lighting at a dance or concert is red, blue or any other colour that does not contain any
green light, a green shirt will appear black. This is because no light is reflected from
it.
17.

18. Sound waves are compression waves while electromagnetic waves are transverse waves.
Sound waves need particles to travel through while electromagnetic waves do not. The
speed of sound waves is much smaller than the speed of electromagnetic waves.
19. They travel through air at 300 000 000 m/s and they are transverse waves.

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Topic 4 answers to activities 12

20. Radio waves.

21. (a) gamma rays (b) infra-red radiation.
22. Analogue radio signals are carried as continuously changing amplitudes or frequencies.
Digital radio signals are carried as a series of pulses. Each pulse can be either ‘on’ or
‘off’.
23. Digital signals are less affected by interference and background radiation noise. As a
result they provide sharper images and better sound. They can also carry more
information.
Test yourself
1. A
2. C
3. D
4. C
5. D
6. (a) Amplitude = 3 cm; wavelength = 4 cm
(b) 10 cm
7. Sound energy is converted into electrical energy. Electrical signals are then converted to
pulses of light which are transmitted along the optical fibres. As the light approaches the
outer cladding of the fibre, it bends so much that it is reflected back into the fibre. The
light, therefore, is ‘trapped’ inside the fibre.

Suggested marking scheme

Qs 1–5: 1 mark each correct answer
Q. 6(a) ½ mark each correct value of amplitude and wavelength
Qs 6(b): 1 mark
Q. 7: correct diagram (1 mark), correct energy conversions (1 mark), description of total
internal reflection and transmission of ray (1 mark)

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