CH3 Waves

3.1General Wave Properties

Waves

A wave transfers energy from one place to another without the transfer of
particles in the medium. Rather, individual particles vibrate (oscillate) about fixed
positions instead.

Wave motion can be easily exemplified by vibrations in:

Ropes

Springs
Water

Types of waves

There are two types of waves:

● Longitudinal waves
● Transverse waves

In a longitudinal wave (such as sound), the particles vibrate parallel to the

direction of the wave. This leads to compressions (particles are closer together
than normal) and rarefactions (particles are further apart than normal)

In a transverse wave (such as light), particles vibrate perpendicular to the

direction of the wave. This leads to a series of peaks (particles are higher than
normal) and troughs (particles are lower than normal).
Some important terms that you must be aware of are:

● Wavelength is the distance between adjacent particles that are at the

same point in their vibration
● In a transverse wave, it is the distance between two adjacent
peaks or troughs
● In a longitudinal wave, it is the distance between two adjacent
compressions or rarefactions
● Amplitude is the maximum displacement of particles from rest position
● This is a bit tricky to measure for longitudinal waves
● But for transverse waves, it is simply the distance between
the rest position to the peak
● Velocity of the wave is the distance traveled per second, and is
measured in m/s
● Frequency of the wave is the number of complete waves passing a
point per second, and is measured in hertz (Hz)
● Wavefronts can be represented as lines which are always
perpendicular to the direction of wave travel. The distance between one
wavefront to the next is the wavelength
Combining velocity, frequency and wavelength produces this wave equation:

Reflection, refraction and diffraction

Reflection

When waves hit a plane surface, it will reflect off it. The frequency, speed or
wavelength of the wave remains unchanged in reflection.

A ripple tank has a vibrating bar which can generate waves of varying frequency
in water.

We can observe what happens when the water waves hit a barrier:

Take note that the wavefronts are 90° to the direction of travel of the wave
Refraction

A wave will become refracted if it travels from one medium to another medium
with a different density. The speed of the wave changes, and that causes a
change in direction of the wave.

Water travels more slowly in shallow water compared to deep water. We can
observe what happens to water waves as it goes from deep to shallow:

As you can see, the wavelength decreases and the direction shifts as the waves
hit the more shallow side.

Diffraction

Diffraction is the process by which waves spread out as a result of passing

through a narrow gap or across an edge of an object.

As water waves pass through the gap, you can observe the spreading of the new
wavefronts:
The extent of diffraction is dependent on the size of the gap in comparison to the
wavelength of the wave.

Diffraction can also occur as waves hit the edge of a barrier.

The longer the wavelength the greater the diffraction that occurs.
 3.2 Light

Reflection of light

Just like any other wave, light can be reflected off a plane surface. A basic mirror
uses the principles of reflection to allow us to see various objects through it.

Basic principles of reflection

There are some key principles regarding the reflection of light rays:

● The incident ray, reflected ray, and the normal all lie in the same plane
● The incoming light ray is called the ‘incident ray’
● The reflected light ray is called the ‘reflected ray’
● The normal is the imaginary perpendicular line on the mirror
surface
● The angles of the rays are measured in relation to the normal
● The angle of incidence is the angle between the incident ray
and the normal
● The angle of reflection is the angle between the reflected ray
and the normal
● The angle of incidence is always equal to the angle of reflection
Reflection through a plane mirror

A mirror reflects light rays that come from various objects. These reflected rays
enter our eyes and allow us to see these objects through the mirror.

We can construct a ray diagram to demonstrate how the image of an object is

formed inside a mirror:

● Trace at least 2 incidents rays from an object

● Trace the corresponding reflected rays ensuring that you follow the law
of reflection (r=i)
● Trace back the reflected rays, and the lines should converge at a single
point behind the mirror
● That convergence point is where the image is located
● If everything went smoothly, the distance from the real object to the
mirror should be the same as the distance from the mirror to the image
(d = d’)
You need to be able to perform simple constructions, measurements, and
calculations for reflections by a plane mirror.

The properties of an image inside a mirror are:

● Virtual image
● Real images are those where light actually converges,
whereas virtual images are locations from where light
‘appears’ to have converged when traced backwards (like in
our diagram above)
● Same size as object
● Same distance away from mirror as object
● Laterally inverted

Refraction of light
Refractive index

Light travels at different speeds depending on the refractive index of a medium.

Every material/medium has a different refractive index, and this value is
determined by how fast light travels within it.

● The higher the refractive index, the slower light travels

● The lower the refractive index, the faster light travels

Generally, denser materials have a higher refractive index than less dense
materials. The equation for refractive index is as follows:

Two other very important equations are:

Continue reading, as we will discuss more in depth about the angle of incidence,
angle of refraction, and the critical angle!

Refraction of light rays through mediums

Consider light traveling from medium A to medium B. Two scenarios are possible:

1. Medium A has a lower refractive index than medium B

2. Medium A has a higher refractive index than medium B

Air has a lower refractive index than glass. Consider light entering a glass block
from the top and leaving through the bottom.

● As light enters the glass block, it goes from low to high index
● As light escapes the block, it goes from high to low index
Here are some important notes about the diagram above:

● i = angle of incidence
● r = angle of refraction
● Light slows down as it enters a higher index material, therefore bends
towards the normal
● Light speeds up as it enters a lower index material, therefore bends
away from the normal

If light ever enters another medium at exactly 90° (along the normal) then light
changes speed but does not change direction.

Critical angle and total internal reflection

Consider light rays going from a medium of higher to lower index. As discussed
above, light rays will bend away from the normal.
As the angle of incidence increases, the angle of refraction also increases.
However, there is a limit to this:

The angle of refraction cannot exceed 90°. After all, how could it? If light bent
more than that then it would actually just reflect back into the medium.

Therefore the critical angle is the angle of incidence at which the angle of
refraction is exactly 90°.

Recall that refractive index (n) = 1 / sin c

Total internal reflection is when the angle of incidence exceeds the critical angle
and all the light gets reflected back into the medium instead of being refracted.

Total internal reflection used in optical fibres

The concept of total internal reflection is used in optical fibres. An optic fibre has a
thin glass cylindrical core with a transparent material of a lower refractive index
(cladding).

The cladding has a lower refractive index than the core, meaning total internal
reflection will occur for all rays that hit the boundary between the core and the
cladding at an angle larger than the critical angle.

Thin converging lens

When parallel light rays from a distance source pass through a convex converging
lens, they are focused at a single point called the principle focus.

The imaginary horizontal line which lies perpendicular to the lens is called the
principle axis, and the distance from the lens centre to the principle focus is called
the focal length.

If a beam of parallel light passes through a convex lens, this is the effect that you
would get:

Drawing ray diagrams

You are expected to trace rays from an object through a convex lens in order to
determine the position of the image.

As we saw above, all convex lenses will have a certain focal point. The focal point
and focal length is exactly the same on either side of the lens.

Start by drawing these components in order:

● Principle axis
● Convex lens
● Two focal length’s on either side of the lens

Consider an object being placed on the left hand side of the diagram. There are
three possible positions:

● Beyond 2F
● Between 2F and F
● Between F and the lens

The resulting image property of the object will be different depending on the
object position.

Beyond 2F

From the top of the object, you draw three rays as shown oh the diagram. The
point at which these 3 lines meet is where the object is positioned.
When the object is beyond 2F, the image is real, inverted, and diminished (smaller
than the object).

Between 2F and F

When the object is between 2F and F, the image is real, inverted, and magnified
(larger than the object).

Between F and the lens centre

When the object is between F and the lens centre, the image is virtual, upright,
and magnified

White light and dispersion

White light is a complex combination of all of the different wavelengths of the

visible spectrum.

Each of the wavelengths have a different colour i.e green has a wavelength of
approx 500nm, red has a wavelength of approx 700nm etc.

Light of a single frequency is called monochromatic light, and combining all of

these different individual wavelengths of monochromatic light result in ‘white
light’.

We can reverse this process by ‘splitting apart’ white light into its different
components. This is called dispersion, and it can be easily done using a glass
prism.
 3.3 Electromagnetic Spectrum

Summary of electromagnetic spectrum

All electromagnetic waves can travel through vacuum. They all travel at the speed
of 3 X 10^8 m/s in vacuum and very close to this value through air.

In other materials however, they travel a bit slower. Each selection of the
electromagnetic spectrum has is own uses and features:

They exhibit reflection, refraction and have a transverse wave nature .

They obey the wave equation , v= fλ, where v is the speed of light, f is the
frequency of the waves and the λ is the wavelength. Since v is constant in a
particular medium, larger f means small λ

They carry energy from one place to another and can be absorbed by matter to
cause heating and other effects. The higher the frequency and the smaller the
wavelength of the radiation, the greater the energy carried, i.e. gamma rays are
more ‘energetic’ than radio waves.
The higher the frequency, the higher the energy of the radiation. Therefore radio
waves have the lowest energy and gamma radiation has the highest energy within
the spectrum.
 3.4 Sound

Production of sound

Sound is a result of vibrating objects that cause a vibration in air molecules that
lead to a series of compressions and rarefactions.

Recall the sound is a longitudinal wave. Compressions are when air molecules
are closest together and rarefactions are when they are furthest apart.

We hear sound when the sound waves reach our ear and cause our ear drums to
vibrate. We can hear frequencies from about 20 Hz to 20 kHz – Any more or any
less is very difficult for our ears to pick up.

Remember that all waves (including sound) have a frequency and an amplitude:

● The frequency of a wave is the number of waves that pass a fixed spot
per second (unit=Hz). The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch of
the sound.
● The amplitude of the wave is the maximum displacement of the
vibrating particles. The larger the amplitude, the louder the sound will
be.

Speed of sound

Speed of sound through various mediums

Sound waves cannot travel through vacuum. They must be transmitted through
vibrations of particles within a medium. The closer the particles are within the
medium, the faster sound will travel. For example, the speed of sound is:

● 330-350 m/s in air

● 1400 m/s in water
● 5000 m/s in concrete
● 6000 m/s in steel

Air is a gas so particles are very spread out, which is why sound does not travel
very fast. Metals on the other hand are generally solids, and particles are very
closer together allowing fast transmission of sound waves.

Determining the speed of sound in air

Above we state that the speed of sound is approximately 330 m/s in air. We can
experimentally prove this by using this set-up:

Two microphones are separated by exactly 1m. They are connected to a digital
timer that starts when it gets signal from microphone 1 and stops when it gets
signal from microphone 2.

A hammer is used to hit a metal block which generates sound. The sound waves
will hit microphone 1 first which starts the timer, and then hit microphone 2 which
stops the timer.
Since the microphones are separated by 1m, the sound has traveled 1m in 0.003
seconds.

Since speed = distance / time, 1/0.003 = 330 m/s

Echoes

Just like light waves can be reflected off a boundary, so can sound waves. When
sound gets reflected off a surface, it generates an echo.

An echo is heard when the distance between the person producing sound and
the rigid obstacle is long enough to allow the reflected sound to reach the
person at least 0.1 seconds after the original sound is heard. If it comes
before 0.1 seconds, the human ears won't be able to differentiate between the
original sound and the echoed sound.

Production of Musical Notes

Known frequencies can be produced in the laboratory using a signal generator
that supplies irregular vibrations for noise or regular vibrations for musical
notes through a loudspeaker.
 ● Irregular vibrations like those from motor engines cause noise.
● Regular vibrations, as in instruments of a brass band, produce musical
notes with properties of pitch, loudness, and quality.

Using Tuning Forks

A set of tuning forks with marked frequencies can also be used to produce
musical notes. A tuning fork consists of two steel prongs that vibrate when
struck, generating compressions and rarefactions.

Pitch of a Note
The pitch of a note is determined by the frequency of the sound wave
reaching the ear, which corresponds to the frequency of the sound source.

● High-pitched notes have high frequencies and short wavelengths.

● The frequency of middle C is 256 Hz, while upper C is 512 Hz, with
notes being an octave apart when one frequency is twice that of the
other.
● Pitch is analogous to color in light, both being dependent on frequency.

Loudness of a Note
The loudness of a note increases when more sound energy enters the ears
per second, which occurs when the source vibrates with a larger amplitude.

● Increasing the amplitude of vibration, such as by bowing a violin string

more strongly, results in a louder note due to the increased energy used
to produce it.
Sound Quality
The quality of a sound is determined by its waveform, with a pure note from a
tuning fork having a simple sine waveform. Different instruments playing the
same note exhibit varying qualities or timbres due to overtones mixed with the
fundamental frequency.

● Notes consist of a fundamental frequency and overtones, which are

exact multiples of the fundamental.
● The number and strength of overtones influence the quality of a note,
with instruments like violins having more and stronger higher overtones
compared to pianos.

Ultrasound
Ultrasound refers to sound with a frequency higher than 20 kHz, undetectable
by the human ear but can be electronically detected and displayed on a CRO.

● Ultrasound waves are produced by a quartz crystal vibrating at the

required frequency and emitted directionally.
● An ultrasound receiver, also using a quartz crystal, generates an
electrical signal when set into vibration by ultrasound waves, serving as
both a transmitter and receiver.