Waves — IGCSE Physics (0625) questions by topic

A water wave has a speed of 2.0 m/s. 4.0 complete waves pass a point every 10 seconds. What is the wavelength of the wave? A 0.50 m B 0.80 m C 5.0 m D 8.0 m

Which row correctly describes the vibrations of a transverse wave and also gives a correct example of a transverse wave? description of vibrations example of a transverse wave ---…

The diagram shows a view from above of waves on the surface of a pond after the water has been disturbed at point P. Concentric circular ripples spread outwards from point P. A…

The diagram shows the image of a clock as seen by a person standing in front of a plane mirror. The mirror image of the clock face shows hands that, when reversed left-to-right,…

The diagram shows a ray of light incident on the surface of a glass block. A ray comes down from the upper left to a point on the top surface of the glass block; a dashed normal…

The amplitude and the frequency of a sound wave both increase. What happens to the loudness and what happens to the pitch of the sound? loudness pitch --- --- --- A decreases…

Which statements about sound and ultrasound are correct? sound ultrasound --- --- --- A humans can hear frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 000 Hz the speed in air is 330 m/s B…

Twelve crests of a water wave pass a boat anchored at sea in a time of 180 s. The distance between consecutive crests of the wave is 10 m. What is the speed of the wave? A 0.056 m…

The diagrams show examples of wave motion. Diagram 1 (waves on water): concentric circular ripples spreading out in a ripple tank. Diagram 2 (waves in air): a drum being struck,…

A ray of light passes through a glass block. The diagram shows a ray of light travelling from air into a rectangular glass block, striking the top surface at an angle. Four…

The diagram shows a converging lens forming an image. An object stands a distance to the left of a converging lens; the lens forms an image to the right. The horizontal distances…

Which type of radiation does a remote controller use to send its instructions to a television (TV)? A gamma rays B infrared radiation C ultraviolet radiation D X-rays

The diagram shows the ranges of human hearing and of ultrasound waves. A horizontal number line runs from 0 through 10^1, 10^2, 10^3, 10^4, 10^5 to 10^6. The range of human…

Twelve crests of a water wave pass a boat anchored at sea in a time of 180 s. The distance between consecutive crests of the wave is 10 m. What is the speed of the wave? A 0.056 m…

The diagrams show examples of wave motion. Diagram 1: waves on water - concentric circular ripples spreading out in a ripple tank. Diagram 2: waves in air - a drum being struck,…

A ray of light passes through a glass block. The diagram shows a ray of light travelling from air into a glass block, striking the top surface at an angle. Four possible paths A,…

The diagram shows a converging lens forming an image. The diagram (not to scale) shows an upright object on the left, a converging lens, and an inverted image on the right. The…

Which type of radiation does a remote controller use to send its instructions to a television (TV)? A gamma rays B infrared radiation C ultraviolet radiation D X-rays

A person exposed to excessive radiation from certain parts of the electromagnetic spectrum is likely to suffer cell damage. Which radiations cause cell damage? A gamma rays and…

The diagram shows the ranges of human hearing and of ultrasound waves. The diagram shows a logarithmic scale from 0 to 10^6. The range of human hearing is marked from 2 x 10^1 to…

The Sun radiates most of its energy in three regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The diagram (a pie chart) shows the proportion of the total energy radiated in each of these…

The diagram shows a cork with a weight attached so that the cork floats upright in water. The cork is at the water surface and the weight hangs below it on a thread. Transverse…

A thin converging lens is used as a magnifying glass. How does the image compare with the object? A real and inverted B real and upright C virtual and inverted D virtual and…

The diagram shows two plane mirrors at 90 degrees to each other. A ray of light is incident on one of the mirrors. The ray reflects off both mirrors before reaching a screen. The…

The speed of light in a material is 50% of the speed of light in air. What is the refractive index of the material? A 0.5 B 2.0 C 6.0 x 10^8 D 1.5 x 10^8

A beam of white light is split into a spectrum of seven colours. Which name is given to this process? A diffraction B dispersion C reflection D refraction

Satellites are sometimes used to receive and re-transmit television signals. Which row shows the type of satellite and the electromagnetic waves used? option type of satellite…

A sound wave travels through the air and strikes a solid block of steel. Some of the sound is reflected from the steel, and some is transmitted through the steel. How does the…

Which wave will diffract the most when passing through a gap that is 0.85 m wide? wave speed / (m/s) wave frequency / Hz --- --- --- A 300 280 B 300 400 C 350 280 D 350 400

Which arrow on the graph shows the amplitude of the wave? The graph shows displacement (vertical axis) against distance (horizontal axis) for a transverse wave (two full…

Which row describes a seismic S-wave? type of wave direction of vibration --- --- --- A longitudinal parallel to the direction of travel of the wavefront B longitudinal…

The image of an object is formed by a plane mirror. Which row gives the correct properties of the image? real or virtual distance of the image from the mirror --- --- --- A real…

A ray of light, travelling in air, is incident on an air-glass boundary. The angles between the incident ray, the refracted ray and the boundary are shown. The diagram shows a ray…

A small object O is placed near a converging lens, as shown. The lens forms an image I. The diagram shows a converging (convex) lens on the principal axis with a small object O…

What is the approximate speed of light in air? A 300 m/s B 300 km/s C 3.0 x 10^8 m/s D 3.0 x 10^8 km/s

A ship sends an ultrasound pulse to the seabed to measure the depth of the sea. The speed of ultrasound waves in sea water is 1500 m/s. The pulse takes 4.6 seconds to travel to…

A dolphin has a range of audible frequencies of 150 Hz - 150 kHz. Which range of frequencies can be heard both by humans with good hearing and by dolphins? A 20 Hz - 150 Hz B 20…

Which row correctly describes light waves? wave type direction of vibration --- --- --- A longitudinal parallel to direction of wave travel B longitudinal perpendicular to…

A narrow beam of light consists of two waves of different wavelengths. The beam of light hits a sharp edge. Which effect will be seen beyond the sharp edge? A Both waves continue…

An object is placed 30 cm in front of a plane mirror. Which statement describes the image of the object? A The image is the same size as the object and 30 cm from the object. B…

Which statement about total internal reflection at a glass-air boundary is correct? A The angle of incidence inside the glass must be equal to the critical angle. B The angle of…

What is the speed of radio waves in a vacuum and what is the speed of gamma rays in a vacuum? speed of radio waves speed of gamma rays --- --- --- A less than 3.0 x 10^8 m/s less…

A student makes a sound in front of a large wall. She hears an echo at time t after making the sound. The speed of sound in air is v. Which expression is used to calculate the…

What is a compression? A a point in a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are close together B a point in a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium are…

Fig. 6.1 represents a ray of red light travelling into and through a semicircular glass block. A dashed line, labelled line Y, is drawn vertically at point P on the flat surface…

A transverse wave passes through a medium. Fig. 7.1 shows the displacement of particles in the medium. The vertical axis is displacement in cm (from -1.0 to 1.0) and the…

A teacher produces a water wave in a ripple tank. The wavelength of the water wave is 1.2 cm. The speed of the water wave is 18 cm/s. Calculate the frequency of the water wave.

Place ticks (✓) in Table 7.1 to show the properties of sound waves and of microwaves. property sound waves microwaves --- --- --- longitudinal transverse electromagnetic travel in…

A teacher produces a water wave in a ripple tank. The wavelength of the water wave is 1.2 cm. The speed of the water wave is 18 cm/s. Calculate the frequency of the water wave.

Place ticks (✓) in Table 7.1 to show the properties of sound waves and of microwaves. property sound waves microwaves --- --- --- longitudinal transverse electromagnetic travel in…

A ray of light is incident on a soap film. Fig. 5.1 shows a magnified image of a small part of the soap film. The ray of light is refracted as it enters the soap film. In Fig. 5.1…

Describe an experiment to determine the speed of sound in air. State the apparatus required, the measurements taken and how to calculate the speed of sound in air from the…

Fig. 6.1 is a full-size diagram of a converging lens and an image I of an object. The image I is drawn as an upward arrow standing on the principal axis to the left of the lens.…

Fig. 5.1 shows four rays of red light, P, Q, R and S, coming from a spotlight in a swimming pool. Define, in words, refractive index for a ray of light travelling from air to…

Ultrasound is an example of a longitudinal wave. Define the term ultrasound.

In this experiment, you will investigate the position of the image in a plane mirror. Use the ray-trace sheet supplied, referring to Fig. 3.1 for guidance. - Draw a line 10.0 cm…

A student investigates reflections in a plane mirror. A ray-trace sheet is shown in Fig. 3.1. - Draw a normal to the line MR that passes through the centre of MR. Label the normal…

The diagram represents a wave, with x marking a horizontal distance (one wavelength) and y marking a vertical distance (peak-to-trough, i.e. twice the amplitude). Which row gives…

Which row describes a seismic P-wave? A longitudinal; parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave B longitudinal; perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the…

Which diagram (A, B, C or D) shows waves diffracting?

The diagram shows a ray of light in glass incident on the surface between the glass and air. What happens if the angle of incidence is made larger than the critical angle for the…

Red light of frequency 430 × 10¹² Hz has a wavelength of 700 × 10⁻⁹ m. What is possible for blue light? A a frequency of 190 × 10¹² Hz and a wavelength of 450 × 10⁻⁹ m B a…

The table shows data for the hearing ranges of different animals: A turtle 20–1000 Hz; B mouse 1000–1 000 000 Hz; C moth 20 000–300 000 Hz; D elephant 16–12 000 Hz. Which animal…

Which description of ultrasound is correct? A longitudinal waves with a frequency greater than 20 000 Hz B longitudinal waves with a frequency less than 20 Hz C transverse waves…

The radius of the orbit of Venus around the Sun is 110 × 10⁶ km. The radius of the orbit of the Earth around the Sun is 150 × 10⁶ km. The speed of light is 0.30 × 10⁶ km/s. How…

The radius of a circular pond is 3.0 m. Circular waves are made at the centre. There are 10 whole waves between the centre and the edge, and it takes 5.0 s for all 10 waves to…

How does the direction of vibration of a longitudinal wave compare to its direction of propagation, and which wave example is longitudinal? A at right angles; ultrasound waves B…

The diagram shows a ray of light reflecting from a mirror, with angles x and y marked relative to a line Z. Which row shows the correct names for x, y and Z? A x angle of…

A converging lens forms an image of an object placed in front of it beyond 2F (focal points F marked). What are the characteristics of the image? A real, inverted, diminished B…

White light can be split into different colours by passing it through a prism. What is the name of this process? A diffraction B dispersion C reflection D refraction

Excessive exposure to some regions of the electromagnetic spectrum can cause harmful effects. Which regions cause mutation of cells, skin burns and internal heating of body cells…

A pulse of sound is produced at the bottom of a boat. It travels through the water, reflects from a shoal of fish, and reaches the boat again 1.2 s after it is produced. The speed…

The frequency of a sound wave increases from 31 000 Hz to 32 000 Hz. What is the nature of the wave and how does it sound to a human with normal hearing? A It is a longitudinal…

What is the name of the distance from one crest in a transverse wave to the next crest? A amplitude B period C wavefront D wavelength

Waves on the surface of water travel from deep water to shallow water. Which diagram (A, B, C or D) shows the correct path of the waves in the shallow water? (The waves bend…

The diagram shows a thin converging lens with principal focuses at F1 and F2. A small light source is placed at F1 and a beam of light from the source passes through the lens.…

A student reads the relationship i = r in his physics book. What is the student reading about? A diffraction due to a gap B dispersion of light by a prism C reflection in a plane…

The table shows the frequency of different colours of light: violet 7.2 × 10¹⁴ Hz; blue 6.3 × 10¹⁴ Hz; yellow 5.2 × 10¹⁴ Hz; red 4.5 × 10¹⁴ Hz. Using the data, what is the…

The table gives the wavelengths of three electromagnetic waves: P 3.2 × 10⁻³ m; Q 5.0 × 10⁻⁹ m; R 2.6 × 10³ m. Which row correctly identifies P, Q and R? A P microwave; Q radio…

A student hits two wooden blocks together in front of a wall and calculates the speed of sound to be 340 m/s. The time between hitting the blocks and hearing the echo is 0.59 s.…

Which statement about waves is correct? A Waves do not transfer either energy or matter. B Waves transfer both energy and matter. C Waves transfer energy without transferring…

The angle of incidence of a ray of light incident on a plane mirror is gradually increased. To the nearest degree, what is the maximum possible angle between the incident and…

Which conditions are necessary for light to be totally internally reflected? A incident light is in the less dense medium; angle of incidence less than the critical angle B…

The diagram shows a ray of light passing from air into a transparent substance: angle of incidence 40.0° in air, angle of refraction 30.0° in the substance. What is the refractive…

The diagram shows a ray of light in an optical fibre. Which statement correctly explains the condition for the maximum transmission of light by the optical fibre? A The glass must…

Which region of the electromagnetic spectrum is used for detecting fake bank notes? A radio B microwaves C ultraviolet D X-rays

A sound wave travels at 330 m/s. The distance between the centre of a compression and the centre of the nearest rarefaction is 2.5 cm. What is the frequency of the sound wave? A…

Which waves are used in the medical scanning of soft tissue? A gamma rays B infrared C microwaves D ultrasound

In which type of wave is the direction of vibration parallel to the direction of travel? A electromagnetic waves B seismic P-waves C seismic S-waves D water waves

Waves in a ripple tank are diffracted as they pass through a narrow gap. What can be done to make the spreading due to diffraction greater? A Decrease the frequency of the waves…

Diagram 1 shows the page of a book in front of a plane mirror, with an eye looking at the image. Diagram 2 shows a large letter G on the page facing the mirror. What is the…

The diagram shows a ray of light passing from air into diamond: angle of incidence 60° in air, angle of refraction (to the normal) such that the angle marked is 78° from the…

The ray diagrams show the formation of an image by two different converging lenses (diagram 1 object beyond F; diagram 2 object inside F acting as a magnifying glass). Which row…

White light enters a glass prism and the light leaving the other side is separated into colours (colour 1 and colour 2) in diagram 1 and diagram 2. Which row correctly describes…

Thermal radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. What is the name of this region of the spectrum? A gamma rays B infrared C ultraviolet D visible light

A remote-controlled vehicle on a planet senses an obstacle and sends a radio message to the control room 2.4 × 10⁶ km away. The control room sends a message back telling it to…

A seismic wave has a frequency of 5.0 Hz and a speed of 10 km/s. What is the wavelength of the wave? A 0.20 km B 0.50 km C 2.0 km D 50 km

Sound waves will diffract when going through a gap or passing the edge of a barrier. Which size of wavelength gives the most diffraction in each case? A passing through a gap:…

A boy having his eyes tested sees a card placed over his head reflected in a plane mirror in front of him. He sees the letter 'R' in the mirror. How is it printed on the card? (It…

A ray of light is refracted as it enters air from glass: angle in glass measured 60° (to the surface) and angle in air 50° as shown, giving angle of incidence in glass and…

Which colours of visible light are in the correct order of increasing wavelength? A red → yellow → blue B orange → green → violet C indigo → green → red D blue → green → violet

The diagram lists three types of electromagnetic radiation in order: microwaves, infrared, X-rays. The radiation is travelling in a vacuum. Which quantities increase in magnitude…

Which row gives the typical values of the speed of sound at room temperature in air, water and iron? A air 340; water 1500; iron 5100 m/s B air 340; water 5100; iron 1500 m/s C…

Fig. 7.1 shows a ray of light striking a plane mirror and being reflected. The normal is drawn. The angle of incidence for the ray of light is 40°. Indicate the angle of…

A student studies different types of wave. She studies waves on the surface of water in a ripple tank. The frequency of the waves is 4.0 Hz. The wavelength of the waves is 5.0 cm.…

State the name of the type of wave in which the direction of vibration is at right angles to the direction of travel.

Fig. 7.1 shows a ray of red light incident on a glass prism at point P. The ray is refracted at point P. On Fig. 7.1, draw the normal at point P.

The lens in a magnifying glass is a converging lens. Fig. 4.1 shows the lens, its two focal points F1 and F2, and its principal axis. State what is meant by 'focal point'.

Describe how a longitudinal wave differs from a transverse wave.

Fig. 5.1 shows a ray of yellow light incident on a glass prism ABC, entering normally at face AB. Explain why the ray does not change direction when it enters the prism at face AB.

A sound wave travels through air. Fig. 6.1 shows a pressure–time graph for the air at one place (pressure oscillating sinusoidally about atmospheric pressure against time). On…

Fig. 6.1 shows a thin converging lens used to produce a magnified image of an object AB. The object AB stands just inside the focal point F1, with F2 on the far side; the…

Fig. 8.1 shows images produced during two different medical scanning procedures: an ultrasound scan of a fetus and an X-ray scan of a hand. Define ultrasound.

Waves travel across the surface of water. What is meant by the amplitude of the wave? A the maximum distance of a water particle from its mean position B how far the wave travels…

Water waves change direction when they move from shallow water to deep water. The diagram shows wavefronts in the shallow water travelling in the original wave direction and…

The ray diagram shows the formation of an image when light is reflected by a plane mirror. An object is below the mirror, the image is above the mirror, an eye views the…

Which diagram shows how an image of an object is formed on a screen by a converging lens? Four ray diagrams A, B, C and D are shown, each with an object, a converging lens, and a…

Which diagram shows the dispersion of white light by a glass prism? Four diagrams A–D show white light entering a triangular glass prism and emerging; the correct one shows red…

Which regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are used for satellite television and for security marking? (Columns: satellite television; security marking.) A microwaves; infrared…

The horn on a ship makes a sound. The captain on the ship hears an echo from a cliff 4.0 s later. The speed of sound is 340 m/s. How far away is the cliff from the ship? A 170 m B…

The diagram shows a transverse wave. Points 1, 2 and 3 are on the central axis (1 at the start, 2 after one crest, 3 after one full wave); point 4 is at a crest and point 5 is on…

The diagram shows a wave before it reflects from a barrier. Vertical wavefronts approach a barrier set at an angle. Label A is the direction of travel (an arrow), B is the…

The diagram shows a ray of light as it passes from air into glass. The incident ray comes up from the air, strikes the boundary, and continues into the glass. Lines are labelled:…

The diagram shows rays of light passing through a converging lens. Parallel rays enter and converge to a focus. Arrows A, B, C and D label different distances on the diagram.…

The diagram shows a narrow beam of white light being dispersed by a glass prism to produce a visible spectrum. The light emerges spread between P (upper) and Q (lower). Which…

The early Universe was filled with gamma radiation. Since then, the radiation has shifted to the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. How has this change affected the…

Sound waves may cause an echo. What happens to sound waves to cause an echo and what is the nature of sound waves? (Columns: what an echo is caused by; nature of sound waves.) A…

The diagrams show two transverse waves X and Y, drawn to the same scale. Wave X has larger amplitude and shorter wavelength; wave Y has smaller amplitude and longer wavelength.…

Which row shows an example of a transverse wave and an example of a longitudinal wave? A transverse light; longitudinal radio B transverse radio; longitudinal sound C transverse…

A ray of light is reflected from a plane mirror. Which angle is the angle of reflection? A the angle between the incident ray and the normal B the angle between the incident ray…

A thin converging lens forms an image. The ray diagram shows an object beyond the focal point F, with rays converging to form an image on the far side. What is the nature of this…

Which diagram shows the dispersion of white light by a prism? A refraction through prism with violet deviated least and red most (violet above red on exit) B refraction through…

Which row correctly compares microwaves and ultraviolet (frequency of microwaves compared to ultraviolet; uses)? A frequency higher; microwaves heat water and ultraviolet…

A pulse of sound is produced at the bottom of a boat. The sound travels through the water and is reflected from the seabed. The reflected sound reaches the boat 1.3 s after the…

Water waves are reflected at a plane surface. Which property of the waves is changed by the reflection? A direction of propagation B frequency C speed D wavelength

A light ray is passed through air, glass and water. At the air-glass boundary (point W) the ray refracts from 45° to 28°; at the glass-water boundary it travels to point X; at the…

Plane water waves approach a narrow gap in a barrier. Which diagram shows the diffraction pattern that would occur? A plane waves passing through gap emerging as nearly plane…

A ray of light enters a transparent plastic wedge from air and is incident on the lower surface at the critical angle, as shown. The angle of incidence is i, the angle of…

An object is placed 20 cm in front of a thin converging lens. The scale diagram shows how the lens forms a real, inverted image (scale: 5.0 cm). Which row gives the focal length…

Radio waves are electromagnetic waves. What is the wavelength of a radio wave of frequency 2.0 × 10⁵ Hz? A 0.00067 m B 0.0015 m C 670 m D 1500 m

A candle flame is placed in front of a loudspeaker. The loudspeaker produces a sound wave that causes air particles to vibrate. The vibrating air particles make the candle flame…

An earthquake under the ocean can produce a dangerous water wave called a tsunami. The table gives typical data for a tsunami: ocean depth/m, velocity/(km/h), wavelength/km: 7000,…

The diagram shows what happens to wavefronts at sea when they enter a harbour through a gap in the harbour wall: straight wavefronts approach the gap and spread into curved…

A ray of light passes from air into glass. The diagram shows the ray meeting the boundary; the angle between the incident ray and the normal is 50° and the angle between the…

An object is placed in front of a converging lens. The lens has a focal length f. The lens produces a real, enlarged image of the object. Positions A, B, C, D are marked on the…

What is the speed of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum? A 300 m/s B 300 km/s C 300 000 km/s D 300 000 000 km/s

The starter in an athletics race fires the starting pistol. There is a wall 60 m from the starter. Take the speed of sound as 330 m/s. How long after firing the pistol does the…

A vertical stick is dipped up and down in water at P. In two seconds, three wave crests spread out on the surface of the water (concentric circles centred on P). Distance Y is…

Seismic waves from the epicentre of an earthquake take 100 s to reach a point 300 km away. When they arrive, they cause the ground to vibrate with a frequency of 2.0 Hz. What is…

Which diagram illustrates diffraction of water waves? A plane waves passing through a narrow gap between two barriers and spreading out as curved wavefronts B plane waves…

A single ray of light is reflected by two mirrors. The diagram shows the ray of light incident on mirror 1; the angle between the incident ray and the normal to mirror 1 is 50°,…

Which diagram shows the effect of a converging lens on a parallel beam of light? A the rays diverge after passing through the lens B the parallel rays converge to a focal point on…

Which three regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are used in the applications listed? Applications: sterilising water; optical fibres; satellite television signals; mobile…

A man stands 110 m from a high wall. He makes a short, sharp sound and then hears an echo from the wall. The speed of sound in air is 330 m/s. How long after making the sound does…

Fig. 6.1 shows some students near some rocky cliffs looking at a boat at sea. The students watch a firework display on the boat. One of the fireworks bursts and makes a loud…

A student demonstrates three different processes that change the direction of water waves in a ripple tank. Fig. 7.1, Fig. 7.2 and Fig. 7.3 illustrate the three processes. Fig.…

Fig. 8.1 shows a ray diagram for a thin converging lens. The lens forms an image of the object. The object is positioned 30 cm from the centre of the lens; the focal points are…

The direction of vibration in a type of wave is parallel to the direction in which the wave is moving. State the name of this type of wave.

A teacher uses a ripple tank to demonstrate the properties of waves. When a wave travels on the surface of the water in the ripple tank, the water particles vibrate at right…

Table 7.1 lists three uses of electromagnetic (e.m.) waves: used in electric grills; used to kill cancerous cells (also can cause cancer); used to detect fake bank notes. Complete…

A loudspeaker produces a sound wave in air. The distance between the centre of a compression and the centre of a neighbouring rarefaction is 0.10 m. Calculate the wavelength of…

A student plays the violin near the doorway to a large room. Fig. 6.1 shows a young teacher standing where he can hear the sound but cannot see the student. The sound from the…

A fisherman uses high frequency sound waves to locate fish in the sea. Fig. 8.1 shows the sound waves emitted from the boat down towards the seabed. State the name of sound waves…

Fig. 4.1 shows a ray of light as it enters the side of a plastic block. The ray of light passes from air into the plastic. The angle of incidence i = 45° and the angle of…

Fig. 9.1 shows a diagram of a transverse wave with various lengths labelled P, Q, R, S, T, U, V. From Fig. 9.1, identify all the lengths which represent one wavelength.

Fig. 7.1 represents two rays of light striking a thin converging lens. The rays are both parallel to the principal axis. F2 and F1 are the focal points of the lens (F2 on the…

An observer stands at P and looks into a rock quarry. A small explosion takes place at X in the quarry. Fig. 5.1 shows the situation (P at top-left, the explosion at X, solid rock…

Fig. 6.1 shows light waves (wavefronts) passing from air into a glass block. State the name of the process shown in Fig. 6.1 as the wavefronts enter the glass block.

A teacher demonstrates the behaviour of waves using water waves in a ripple tank. Fig. 5.1 shows a cross-section through part of the water waves; a length of 18.2 cm spans 7…

Table 6.1 shows regions of the electromagnetic (e.m.) spectrum, in order. Two of the regions are not labelled (shown as blanks): gamma rays X-rays ......... visible light infrared…

Students are investigating the refraction of light as it travels from air into glass. Their task is to measure the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction at the surface of…

Fig. 5.1 shows a block ABCD made of glass that has a refractive index of 1.5. The block has one curved side AB and three straight sides BC, CD and DA, with right angles at C and…

A mobile phone (cell phone) network uses microwaves of frequency 1.9 × 10⁹ Hz to transmit and receive signals. The speed of microwaves in air is 3.0 × 10⁸ m / s. Calculate the…

Two types of seismic waves are P-waves and S-waves. State the types of wave that P-waves and S-waves can be modelled as.

Fig. 7.1 shows a container of oil. A ray of light shines on the surface of the oil at angle x. The refractive index of the oil is 1.47. On Fig. 7.1, draw the normal at the point…

Fig. 4.1 is an incomplete ray diagram showing an object O, a converging lens and the principal axis. The focal points of the lens are each labelled F. The object O is placed…

A student investigates the refraction of light using a semicircular transparent block. Fig. 3.1 and Fig. 3.2 show his ray-trace sheet (straight side AB of the block on line PQ,…

A student investigates the refraction of light using a semicircular transparent block. Fig. 3.1 shows her ray-trace sheet (straight side AB on line PQ; pins P3 and P4 marked; eye…

A student investigates the reflection of light by two plane mirrors. The student's ray-trace sheet is shown full-size in Fig. 3.1 (mirrors FE and FG at 100° to each other; line AN…

Fig. 4.1 represents a wave on the surface of water. It is a displacement–time graph: the y-axis shows displacement/cm from −20 to +20, the x-axis shows time/s from 0 to 4.0. The…

Fig. 5.1 shows the main regions of the electromagnetic spectrum in order of increasing frequency: radio waves, [unlabelled], infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, [unlabelled],…

Fig. 7.1 shows a ray diagram for an object positioned on the principal axis of a thin converging lens. F1 and F2 are the focal points of the lens and C is the centre of the…

A student can hear trains passing her house. Describe the motion that a sound wave gives to air particles.

In Fig. 8.1, each diagram illustrates a wave property. The top diagram shows waves passing a barrier and spreading; the bottom diagram shows a ray of red light entering glass. The…

Fig. 5.1 shows regions of the electromagnetic spectrum in order of increasing wavelength: gamma rays, X-rays, [unlabelled], visible light, infrared, [unlabelled], radio waves. Two…

A student shines a ray of red light into a rectangular glass block, as shown in Fig. 6.1. At the boundary, the light produces three rays (to be labelled): one continues into the…

A page of printed text is placed 18 cm from a converging lens of focal length 35 cm. Fig. 6.1 is a scale diagram of the arrangement with each of the two principal focuses (focal…

Fig. 5.1 shows a road junction, a moving car and a stationary truck. The road has high walls on each side. The driver of the truck is at position X. The car moves around the…

Fig. 7.1 shows some uses of electromagnetic radiation and different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Uses listed: Bluetooth headset, thermal imaging, photography of…

Fig. 5.1 is a scale diagram of wavefronts of red light approaching a gap in a barrier (wavelength and wavefronts marked). On Fig. 5.1, draw three wavefronts after the wave has…