Waves

Waves are a pattern of motion that

transfer energy from place to place without
transferring matter.
Waves are produced by vibration.
It may appear that ocean waves are moving
particles of water toward you, but in fact, the water is
only moving up and down.

for example Mexican wave

As each person stands up and sits down, the ‘Mexican wave’ moves
around the arena. The average position of each person doesn’t change.
 If water from sea waves do not move horizontally but
only transmit energy, what causes the surfer to move
forward?
Gravity. He’s sliding down the inclined plane of the
wave. The surfer slides down the face of the
advancing wave although the water only moves up
and down (approximately). As the wave reaches
the shore, then the water does move forward as the
up-down motion gets transferred to linear motion as
the wave breaks
 ‘Wave’ is a common term for a number of
different ways in which energy is transferred:
In electromagnetic waves, energy is transferred
through vibrations of electric and magnetic fields
without a medium.
In sound waves, energy is transferred through
vibration of air particles or particles of a solid
through which the sound travels.
In water waves, energy is transferred through the
vibration of the water particles.
 terms
Progressive waves – waves that transfer energy from
one point to the next. Examples: transverse and
longitudinal waves.

Stationary waves- do not transfer energy. For

example, a guitar string vibrates but the wave doesn't
travel along the string.

Pulse – a single vibration

Why is wave important?
 Types of Waves

■ Transverse Waves

Longitudinal Waves

❖ In a transverse wave vibrations are perpendicular to the direction of

energy transfer.

❖ In a longitudinal wave vibrations are parallel to the direction of energy

transfer or wave movement.
 Waves produced in slinky

video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT4KAc0Ag1E
 Transverse vs longitudinal wave

Compression – where vibrating

Crest – the top of the wave particles is forced together. region
Trough- the bottom of the of high pressure.
wave Rarefaction- where vibrating
■
examples include
particles is pushed apart. region
◻
water waves region of low pressure.
◻
rope waves
◻ example include
electromagnetic waves eg
light, micro and radio waves
sound waves
 Parameters of A Wave
(measurable charactistics of wave)

■Amplitude
■Wavelength
■Frequency
■Period
■Speed
 Wave Parameters
Wavelength (λ)– the distance
between two successive points in a
wave, eg in transverse- crests to
crest, trough to trough.
In longitudinal compression to
compression; rarefaction to
rarefaction
Frequency- how often

Frequency (f)- the number of

cycles completed in one second.
S.I. unit hertz (Hz) – same as per
second or s −1

Period (T) – the time taken for one complete cycle.

Amplitude (a) – the height of a wave from the middle line(rest position)
to crest or trough. Unit – meter.
 Amplitude
Waves with more energy have higher
amplitudes.When you turn the volume up on the
TV, you are increasing the amplitude of the sound
waves

Wavelength - The closer the peaks of the

wave are to each other, the more energy
the waves have. The opposite is also true:
when the wavelength is longer, the waves
have less energy.
■ Hertz (Hz) - defined as one cycle per second

■ 1 Hz is 1 vibration in 1 second.

■ 50 Hz is 50 vibrations in 1 second.
 The Wave Equation

• What is the speed of a water wave of frequency 4 Hz

and wavelength 3 cm?

v=fxλ
= 4 x (3 / 100)
= 0.12 m/s
 Try this one…
What is the wavelength of a sound wave of
frequency 264 Hz and speed 330 m/s?
v=fxλ
330 = 264 x λ
λ = 330 / 264 = 1.25 m

What is the distance between one compression and

the 1.25
next/ rarefaction
2 = 0.625 m
on this wave?
 Two common representation of waves
1. Displacement-position graph
A displacement-position graph shows how the displacement of each point in a wave
to the distance or position when time is held fixed.
*position rep.distance *displacement represent .amplitude.

How many complete waves are shown in the diagram? State the wavelength
and the amplitude of one complete wave.

Ans:There are 2 complete waves shown in the diagram.

The wavelength is the length of one wave, 40 cm.
The amplitude is the height of the wave, 10 cm.
 2. Displacement – time graph
A displacement-time graph shows how the displacement of one point on
the wave varies over time.

Calculate the frequency of one complete wave shown in the diagram.

F=1/T = 1/0.1 = 10 Hz
Wave phenomenon
 Wave phenomenon

Wave fronts are basically lines of crests or

troughs, which are observed when the waves
are views from above. Based on the source of
the vibration, the wave fronts created in a
ripple tank can be straight(plane) wave
fronts or circular.
Wave fronts- imaginary surface representing corresponding points of a wave that vibrate in
unison.
*What happens when a wave hits an
obstacle?

■ *Reflection

■ *Refraction

■ *Diffraction

■ *Absorption
 Reflection
The law of Reflection
✔The angle of incidence is
equal to the angle of
reflection.
✔The angle of incidence,
the angle of reflection and
the normal all lie on the
same plane.

An incident ray is a ray of light that strikes a surface.

Normal – same as perpendicular to the surface
Reflected rays-the ray that represents the light reflected by the surface
 Wave phenonmenon

Both incident and reflected wave fronts are straight and have equal spacings. The
incident and reflected waves have the same speed and wavelength..
Refraction
Refraction- th
e bending of a
ray when it
passes at an
angle from
one medium
into another in
which its
speed is
different (as
when light
passes from
air into water)

v=fxλ
 Refraction

Water waves will refract when they move from shallow to deep water causing them to
speed up. As a result, their wavelength will increase and the refracted ray will 'SPEED
AWAY' from the normal line.
Remember that the wave fronts are always at 90 degrees to the ray.
Use 'RNAR' to work through the steps: 1. Ray (incident ray) 2. Normal (line perpendicular
to surface where the ray enters) 3. Angles (label the angle of incident and angle of
refraction) 4. Use the refraction rule "SPEED AWAY" to determine which direction the
refracted ray will bend.
 Questions
1. How did the wave bend when it travel from deep water
to shallow water.
Ans: the waves will bends toward the normal.

2. Whap happened to the wavelength and speed when

the wave travels from deep water to shallow water?
Ans: The wavelength and speed decreases.

3. What happened to the frequency of the wave when it

travels from deepwater to shallow water?
Ans:The frequency remains the same
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXz4QiGw7cU
Diffraction is the spreading out of waves as they pass through
an open or around objects.

The smaller the gap

is the more circular
the waves.
Wave Interaction
🟂All we have left to discover is how waves
interact with each other.
🟂*When two waves meet while
traveling along the same medium
it is called INTERFERENCE.

29
 Constructive Interference
🟂Let’s consider two waves moving towards
each other, both having a positive upward
amplitude.
🟂What will happen when they meet?

30
 *Constructive Interference
🟂*They will ADD together to produce a
greater amplitude.
🟂This is known as CONSTRUCTIVE
INTERFERENCE.
When a crest cross a crest or wave cross a wave.

31
 Destructive Interference
🟂Now let’s consider the opposite, two
waves moving towards each other, one
having a positive (upward) and one a
negative (downward) amplitude.
🟂What will happen when they meet?

32
 *Destructive Interference
🟂*This time when they add together they
will produce a smaller amplitude.
🟂This is know as DESTRUCTIVE INTERFERENCE.

33
 Check Your Understanding
🟂 Which points will produce constructive interference and
which will produce destructive interference?
🟂 Constructive
🟂G, J, M, N

Destructive
🟂H, I, K, L, O

34
GCE O-Level
Past Examination
Paper
Science (Physics)
1

ANSWER
When, a ray is incident along normal to a mirror, angle of incidence i=0o
And according of Law of Reflection, angle of reflection, r=i=0o
And, angle of incidence and reflection are angles from normal.
Hence, reflected ray is also along normal that is ray is reflected along the same path.

Answer-(C)
 Nov 1991
2. The diagram shows the outline of a water wave.
What are the values of the amplitude and the
wavelength?

amplitude / cm wavelength / cm
A 0.6 10
B
C
D
0.6
0.6
1.2
20
30
20
B
GCE O Nov 1996
3. A source vibrates at frequency of 20 Hz and
produces waves of wavelength 0.02 m.
At which speed do these waves travel out from the
source ?

A 0.001 ms-1 Hint:

B 0.021 -1 v = λf
C 0.40 ms
D 20 ms
-1
ms
-1

C
 Nov 1998
4. A VHF radio station broadcasts at a frequency of
60MHz (6.0 x 107 Hz). The speed of radio
waves is 3.0 x 108ms-1.
What is the wavelength of the waves broadcast by the
station?

A 0.2 m
B 0.5 m Hint:
v = λf
C
D
2.0 m
5.0 m D
 Nov 1997
5. The diagram below shows a transverse wave
travelling a rope. wavelength

amplitude

(a)Mark on the diagram which is equal to (i) the

wavelength, (ii) the amplitude of the wave. Label your
answers. [2]
(b)If the wavelength is 0.8m and the frequency is 2 Hz,
what is the speed at which the wave moves along the
rope ? [2]
v = λf = 0.8 x 2 = 1.6 ms-1
(Cont. …) Q. 6 Nov 1995
6.(b) The speed of sound in water is 1500m/s. What is
a wave length of a sound wave of frequency 250Hz
travelling through water ?[2]

Since v = λf 1500 = λ 250

therefore λ = 1500 / 250 = 6.0 m
(Cont. …) Q. 6 Nov 1993 6(b) If the wavelength
of a sound wave of frequency
250 Hz is 1.4 m, calculate the speed of the wave.
since v = λf [2]
therefore, = 1.4 x 250
= 350 ms-1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NJHHA9
bp5Y
 Why do some waves have more
energy than others?
A wave’s frequency and wavelength are both
indicators of its energy, but this differs for different
types for waves.
For water waves, those with a high speed and long
wavelength (like a tsunami) have the most energy.
For electromagnetic waves, speed is constant, so
waves with a high frequency and a short
wavelength (like X-rays) are the most energetic.
For all waves, a greater amplitude means more
energy.