Measuring waves in solids

SP4b.1 and liquids – Core

Your teacher may watch to see if you can
● follow instructions carefully
● make accurate measurements.

Introduction
The speed, frequency and wavelength of waves can be measured in different ways. The
most suitable equipment for carrying out these measurements depends on the type of wave
and on its speed.

Aim
To measure waves in different ways and evaluate the suitability of the equipment.

Part 1. Speed of waves on water

Method Apparatus Safety
A Set up a ripple tank with a straight dipper near one of ● ripple tank Mop up any
the short sides of the tank. Fasten a ruler to one of the spilled water
long sides so you can see the markings above the ● stopwatch
straight away
water level. ● ruler
B Vary the current to the motor until you get waves with ● digital
a wavelength about half as long as the ripple tank (so camera
you can always see two waves).
C Count how many waves are formed
in 10 s and write it down.
D Look at the waves against the ruler.
Use the markings on the ruler to
estimate the wavelength of the waves.
If you have one, use a camera to
take a photo of the waves with a ruler
held just above them.
E Mark two points on the edge of the ripple
tank and measure the distance between
them. Use the stopwatch to find out how
long it takes a wave to go from one mark
to the other.

Recording your results

1 Calculate the speed of a single wave by dividing
the distance by the time (both from step E).
Make sure your distance is in metres and your
time is in seconds.
1 Find the frequency by taking the number of waves in 10 s
(from step C) and dividing by 10. Then calculate the speed of the
series of waves by multiplying the wavelength (from step D) by the
frequency you have just worked out.

Considering your results/conclusions

2 Compare your results from questions 1 and 2 with results obtained by other groups.

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 Measuring waves in solids
SP4b.1 and liquids – Core
Evaluation
3 How easy was it to measure the frequency in step C? Why did you count the number of
waves in 10 s?
4 How easy was it to measure the wavelength in step D? Why did you use a digital camera
to help you?
5 How easy was it to time a single wave in step E? Is there any way you could improve this
measurement?

Part 2. Measuring waves in a solid

Method Apparatus
F Suspend a metal rod horizontally using clamp ● metre rule ● long metal
stands and rubber bands, as shown in the diagram
● hammer rod
below.
● 2 clamps ● rubber bands
G Hit one end of the rod with a hammer. Hold a
smartphone and stands ● smartphone
with a frequency app near the rod and note down with
the peak frequency. frequency
app
H Measure the length of the rod and write it down.
The wavelength will be twice the length of the rod.

Recording your results

6 Use the frequency (from step G) and the wavelength (from step H) to calculate the speed
of sound in the metal rod.

Considering your results/conclusions

7 What is the speed of sound in the material you tested?

Evaluation
8 Explain which of your measurements is the more accurate: the wavelength or the
frequency.

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 Measuring waves in solids
SP4b.1 and liquids – Core
9 Draw up a table to summarise the equipment you used for the measurements in both
parts of this investigation, and how suitable the equipment was. You can use headings
like this:

What was Which material How was it Why was this

measured? was this measured measured? method chosen?
for?

10 You can measure walking speed using a tape measure and a stopwatch. Explain why
these instruments are not suitable for measuring the speed of sound in a solid.

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 SP4b.2 Equation practice

You will be expected to recall the equation linking wave speed, distance and time in your
examination, and also the one linking speed, frequency and wavelength. You will need to
choose the correct equation to answer the question and you should also be able to
change the subject of the equations and to use the correct units.

1 The table on the right shows how far some Wave Distanc Time
different waves travel in different times. speed e (m) (s)
Use the equation relating wave speed, distance (m/s)
and time to calculate the missing numbers in the
a 2000 6
table.
11 Sound travels at approximately 1500 m/s in b 50 0.5
water. c 5000 4
a How long will it take a whale song to travel d 3000 600 000
100 km? (Hint: remember to change the
distance into metres.) e 200 25
b If a diver hears a whale song 10 minutes f 1500 3000
after the whale made the noise, how far away
is she?
12 A student is measuring the speed of sound in
air. He hears an echo from a wall 50 m away
0.3 s after he made the sound. Calculate the
speed of sound. (Hint: remember the sound has
to travel to the wall and back again.)
13 Sound travels at different speeds Material Speed of Frequenc Wavelengt
in different materials. sound y (Hz) h (m)
Use the equation relating wave (m/s)
speed, frequency and wavelength
a steel 12 200 0.5
to calculate the missing numbers
in the table on the right. b wood 50 80
14 Waves in a spring have a c air 330 1.65
frequency of 8 Hz and travel at a
speed of 4 m/s. Calculate their d water 1500 15 000
wavelength. e 3500 500
15 Water waves with a wavelength of
1.5 cm travel across a tank at concrete
0.021 m/s. Calculate their f rubber 150 0.015
frequency.
16 Radio waves travel at 3 × 108 m/s in a vacuum. This means Location Distance
that, if controllers on the ground are communicating to (m)
astronauts or space probes, there will be a delay before
they receive a reply. ISS 322 000
Use the information in the table to calculate the time delay Mars 2.25 × 1011
in receiving a reply from:
Pluto 4.9 × 1012
a astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS)
b a probe on the surface of Mars
c the New Horizons probe passing Pluto.

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 SP4b.2 Equation practice

17 There is a time delay of 4 hours when sending messages to

a space probe. How far from Earth is the probe?

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 SP4b.2
Many ships are fitted with a sonar system. This
sends out ‘pings’ of sound, and then detects the
echo when the sound is reflected by the sea bed or
by fish beneath the ship.
Sound travels at approximately 1533 m/s in sea
water and 1493 m/s in fresh water.
18 An anchored fishing boat uses sonar to work out
how deep the sea is. It sends out a ‘ping’ of
sound and detects the echo 2 s later.
a How deep is the water?
a If the boat was on a freshwater lake instead of
the sea, how deep would the water be if the
echo took 2 s to return?
b A little while later, the sonar detects two echoes from a ping, after 0.05 s and 0.7 s.
These echoes are from fish in the sea beneath the boat. Calculate how far below the
boat the fish are.
19 A sonar system can use sound waves with a frequency of 120 kHz or 200 kHz.
b What is the wavelength of each of these waves when they are sent through sea
water?
c What are their wavelengths in freshwater?
d The ship operating these sonar systems is in sea water with a depth of 3 km.
How long will it take an echo to return to the ship after a ‘ping’?
20 A sonar ‘ping’ with a frequency of 50 kHz covers a distance of 300 m in 0.2 s.
What is the wavelength of the sound?

wave speed = frequency ×

wave speed distanc
=
wavelength
v = wave speedein m/s
x = distance in m v = wave speed in m/s

t = time in s f = frequency in Hz
λ = wavelength in m

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 SP4b.2

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 Wave speed
SP4b.3 Strengthen
Name Class Date

1 A wave on water travels 10 m in 16 s. Calculate its speed.

a Write down the equation linking wave speed, distance and time: wave speed =

c Put in the numbers from the question: wave speed =

d Work out the answer: wave speed =

______________ m/s

S1 An underwater sound wave travels 2000 m in 1.3 s. Calculate its speed.

21 The frequency of the wave in question 1 is 0.2 Hz. Calculate its wavelength.

a Write down the equation linking wave speed, frequency and wavelength:

wave speed = ___________ ×

___________

e Rearrange it to make wavelength the subject: wavelength =

f Put in the numbers from the question: wavelength =

g Work out the answer: wavelength = ______________ m

S2 The frequency of the sound wave in S1 is 3000 Hz. Calculate the wavelength of the
sound wave.

22 Danny stands in front of a wall and claps. He hears an echo 1.5 s later.
a What else does he need to measure to work out the speed of sound in air? _________
e Which equation will he need to use to calculate the speed? ______________________
23 Sue is counting ripples passing a marker in a pond. She counts 2 waves every second.
a What else does she need to measure to work out the speed of the ripples? _________
f Which equation will she need to use to calculate the speed? _____________________

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 Wave speed
SP4b.3 Strengthen

wave speed = frequency ×

wave speed =
distanc wavelength
v = wave speedein m/s
x = distance in m v = wave speed in m/s

t = time in s f = frequency in Hz
λ = wavelength in m

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 Wave speed
SP4b.4 Homework 1
Name Class Date

1 The two triangles on the right can help you to rearrange the equations
used to calculate the speed of waves.
What do the letters represent?
x represents _____________ units _____________
v represents _____________ units _____________ t represents _____________
units ____________
f represents _____________ units _____________ λ represents
_____________ units ____________
24 A longitudinal seismic wave travels through 2 km of rock in 2.5 s.
a How far is 2 km in metres? ________________________
g Calculate the speed of the wave in rock.

wave speed = distanc

e
=

wave speed = ________________ m/s

25 A transverse seismic wave travels at 3000 m/s in rock. How long will it take this wave to
travel 10 km?

time = ____________________ s
26 The call of a whale has a frequency of 30 Hz. Sound travels at around 1500 m/s in sea
water.
a Calculate the wavelength of the sound waves.

wavelength = ____________ m
h How far will the sound travel in 5 minutes? (5 minutes = 300 s)

distance = ____________ m
27 A hunter fires a gun and hears an echo from a cliff face 5 s later. He knows the cliff is
850 m away. How fast is the sound travelling where the hunter is?

total distance travelled by sound = ______________________

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 Wave speed
SP4b.4 Homework 1
speed of sound = ______________________ (m/s)
28 A tsunami is a wave caused when a landslide falls into the sea, or when there is an
earthquake on the sea bed. A tsunami off the coast of Japan can travel 8600 km to the
coast of California in about 17 hours (61 200 s). Calculate the speed of the tsunami wave.

speed = ______________ m/s

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 Wave speed
SP4b.5 Homework 2

1 A longitudinal seismic wave travels through 2 km of granite in 2.5 s. Calculate the speed
of the wave.
29 A transverse seismic wave travels at 3000 m/s in rock. How long will it take this wave to
travel 10 km?
30 The call of a whale has a frequency of 30 Hz. Sound travels at a velocity of around
1500 m/s in sea water.
a Calculate the wavelength of the sound waves.
i How far will the sound travel in 5 minutes?
31 A hunter fires a gun and hears an echo from a cliff face 5 s later. He knows the cliff is
850 m away. How fast is the sound travelling where the hunter is?
32 A tsunami is a wave caused when a landslide falls into the sea, or when there is an
earthquake on the sea bed. A tsunami off the coast of Japan can travel 8600 km to the
coast of California in 17 hours.
a Calculate the velocity of the tsunami wave.
j How long would it take a similar wave to travel from Sumatra to Sri Lanka (a distance
of approximately 1500 km)?
33 The seismic waves caused by earthquakes and landslides travel through the Earth and
are detected by seismometers. If the earthquake is detected by several seismometers in
different places, scientists can work out the location of the earthquake.
If warnings are given as soon as the Name of wave Frequenc Wavelengt
seismic waves are detected, calculate the y (Hz) h (m)
length of time people would have to
evacuate in the coastal areas below. a radio 100
(Use the value for the speed of a seismic b microwaves 3 × 1010
wave that you calculated in question 1.)
c visible light 1 × 10-6
a California, 8600 km from Japan
d infrared 3 × 1012
k Sri Lanka, 1500 km from Sumatra.
e ultraviolet 1 × 10-7
34 Light waves are part of a family of waves
(called electromagnetic waves) that all f X-rays 3 × 1019
travel at 3 × 108 m/s when travelling
through a vacuum.
The table shows some typical frequencies or wavelengths for the different parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
Calculate the missing values in the table.

Extra challenge
35 In 1969 the Apollo astronauts left a laser reflector on the Moon. This was to be used to
help scientists to make very accurate measurements of the distance between the Earth
and the Moon. The mean distance between the centres of the Earth and Moon is
385 000 km, and light travels at 3 × 108 m/s.

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 Wave speed
SP4b.5 Homework 2
a How long would it take a beam of light to travel between the centres of the Earth and
Moon?
l The diameter of the Earth is 12 742 km and the diameter of the Moon is 3480 km.
How long would it be before the reflection of a laser beam fired from Earth was
detected on the Earth? State any assumptions you make in working out your answer.

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 SP4b Progression check
Name Class Date

Progression questions
Answer these questions.
1 How can we calculate the speed of a wave?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

2 How can we measure the speed of sound in air?

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

3 How can we measure the speed of waves on water?

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Now circle the faces in the ‘Start’ row in the table showing how confident you are of your
answers.

Question 1 2 3
Start

Assessment
Using a different colour, correct or add to your answers above. You may need to use the
back of this sheet or another piece of paper. Then circle the faces in the ‘Check’ row in the
table.

Question 1 2 3
Check

Feedback
What will you do next? Tick one box.

 strengthen my  strengthen then  extend

learning extend

Note down any specific areas you need to improve.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Action
You may now be given another activity. After this, note down any remaining areas you need
to improve and how you will try to improve in these areas.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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 SP4b Progression check

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