Module 3: Waves and Thermodynamics

Wave Properties

• Vibrating objects transfer energy through waves

• Waves are classified by what they move through
• There are two types: mechanical and electromagnetic

Mechanical Waves

• Mechanical waves transfer energy through vibrations in a medium

• Examples include water, sound and wind
• A wave can be a single pulse, or continuous

Waves only transfer energy from one point to another. THEY DO NOT TRANSFER MATTER!
However, matter may move as the wave passes through it.
• Mechanical waves can be either transverse or longitudinal.
o In a transverse wave, particles oscillate (move back and forth) perpendicular (at
90°) to the direction of energy transfer.
o In a longitudinal wave, particles move parallel to the direction of energy transfer.
Measuring Mechanical Waves
• Waves can be represented by displacement-distance graphs and displacement-time
graphs.
• The graph takes a sinusoidal shape (like a sine wave)
The Role of the Medium

• Speed of sound waves in a medium depends on 2 main factors:

1. Elasticity of the medium

2. Density of the medium

• The more rigid a material is, the faster the mechanical waves are transmitted
• The more elastic a material is, the slower a mechanical wave is transmitted
• The higher the temperature a given medium is, the faster a mechanical wave will move
through it.

Electromagnetic Waves

• All EM waves propagate through space at

• EM waves do not require a medium as they self-propagate

• A charged particle produces an electric field.
• A moving charged particle produces a magnetic field.
• An oscillating charged particle produces an EM wave.
• EM waves consist of perpendicular electric and magnetic fields.

Other Properties of EM Waves

• All EM waves are transverse waves.
• All able to undergo:
o Reflection
o Refraction
o Polarisation
o Interference
o Diffraction
• All EM waves travel in straight lines
Displacement-Time Graph of a Transverse Wave

• The displacement time graph of a transverse wave shows how a single particle is
displaced from natural resting position as a function of time
Wave Behaviour
Wavefronts and Rays

• Rays refer to direction in which energy moves from initial disturbance which created the
wave
• Wavefront essentially marks points at which energy of particles are equal

Reflection

• The law of reflection state that

A reflected wave has the same frequency, wavelength, and speed as the incident
(original) wave
• Wavefronts are identical before and after reflection

•
Convex Mirrors

• Rays diverge after reflection

• Used in car mirrors and surveillance systems

Concave Mirrors

• Curves inward and waves converge at the focus

• Used to reflect microwaves or radio waves from collecting dishes to receiving antenna
 Refraction

• When an EM wave travels from one medium to another some of the wave will be
absorbed, some reflected, and the rest propagates through the new medium

Where and are the angles from the normal (the red line in the image) and n values are the
refractive indices of the media
• the refractive index of a material will usually be given in exams, but it is useful to

remember that air is glass is and water is .

o Usually, a more dense substance will have a higher refractive index

When light moves from one medium to another:

• Frequency of light remains unchanged

• Wavelength of light changes
• Velocity of wavelength changes
• When a wave slows down, it bends towards the normal
If the boundary is struck parallel to the normal, the wavelength and speed still change, but the
direction does not.

Diffraction

• Refers to the spreading if waves as the waves passes an object or travels through a gap
between objects
• Wave diffracts around barrier at edges, leaving a shadow region behind it where the
wave does not reach.
• The amount of diffraction is proportional to the wavelength AND the size of the slit:

Superposition

• Superposition is the overlapping of two waves

• There are two types of superposition: constructive (waves add to make a larger wave)
and destructive (waves cancel each other out to make a smaller wave)
• Superposition results in a temporary change of frequency, amplitude and phase
• Once the waves have passed each other, the superposition collapses, and both waves
return to their original properties
Standing Waves
• Standing waves are waves which do not appear to be moving along the medium
• Instead, the antinodes (peaks and troughs) seem to switch displacement twice every
cycle
• Standing waves are frequently used in music, where:

•
In other words, the frequency of harmonic n is equal to n multiplied by the frequency of
harmonic 1 (usually middle C)

Resonance

• A phenomenon in which a vibrating system or external force drives another system to

oscillate with greater amplitude at specific frequencies
• Occurs at frequencies where response amplitude is a maximum is termed “resonant
frequency”
Sound Waves

• Sound is a mechanical wave; the wave is caused by a vibrating source.

• Travel as alternating regions of compressions and rarefactions.
• Travel at 343m/s
• Changes depending on air pressure and temperature

Sound waves are measured in and are calculated by:

Frequency and Pitch

• Frequency is the quantitative equivalent of pitch

Amplitude and Volume

• Amplitude and volume are directly proportional (increasing one increases the other)

Echoes:

• Minimum distance the boundary needs to be away (from both the source and the
listener) is 17m.
• The sound wave has to travel a total of at least 34m.
• The best echoes come from hard, smooth surfaces.
• For a human to perceive two sounds as separate sounds, they MUST be 0.1 seconds
apart.
The Doppler Effect

• When the source of a sound wave approaches an observer, the observer interprets the
sound as compressed, and therefore higher pitched
• The opposite is true when the source is travelling away from an observer
• The frequency shift can be calculated by:

Ray Model of Light

Ray Diagrams

Describing Ray Diagrams

• Questions will often ask you to describe the image produced by a ray diagram
• To describe these images, use TOMP:
o Type of image (real/virtual)
o Orientation (upright/inverted)
 o Magnification (enlarged/diminished/true size)
o Position (distance from the mirror)
• Magnification can be calculated by:

Mirror Formula

Now that we have the mirror formula, we can expand the magnification formula:

Lenses

• A lens is a transparent piece of material which bends light in a specific manner

• Converging lenses bend light rays to meet at a specific focal point
• Diverging lenses bend light away from each other
Converging Lens:

Diverging Lens:

Refractive Index
• The speed of a wave depends on the density of the medium
• The density, when referring to its effect on waves, is referred to as a
medium’s refractive index
• A total vacuum has a refractive index of
• A higher refractive index means light will travel slower in that medium
• Refractive index is calculated by:
Where is the speed of light in a vacuum

Thermodynamics
Temperature and Kinetic Energy

• While an object may be at rest, the particles it is composed of are in a constant state of
motion
• As temperature increases, the Kinetic energy increases, so the particles move more
quickly
• This allows energy to be transferred faster at higher temperatures

Heat is a measure of the transfer of thermal energy between bodies

Thermal Equilibrium
• Thermal energy is always transferred from regions of higher temperature to regions of
lower temperature
• The Zeroth Law of thermodynamics states that:
“If two thermodynamics systems are each in equilibrium with a third system, then they
are also in equilibrium with each other.”
• The First Law of Thermodynamics, also known as the Law of Conservation of Energy,
states that:
“Energy cannot be created, nor destroyed.”

Specific Heat Capacity

• A measure of how much energy 1kg of a substance must absorb to increase in
temperature by
Water has a specific heat capacity of 4186J/kg/K
o In other words, it takes 4186J of energy to increase the temperature of 1kg of
water by 1 Kelvin
• Specific heat capacity can be calculated with the formula:
•
Latent Heat

• Latent heat of fusion is the amount of energy required to change 1kg of a substance
from liquid to gas WITHOUT CHANGING ITS TEMPERATURE