Waves — IGCSE Science - Combined (0653) questions by topic
Calculate, state, identify, complete and write cover most of what this topic asks: drawing reflected or refracted rays accurately, placing radio waves or visible light correctly along the spectrum, and calculating frequency or wavelength from given data. Calculate in particular expects a specific labelled value with working shown, not just a description of the relationship involved.
The 32 real questions here, taken from 2023 to 2025 papers, are worth 1 to 10 marks, so a single spectrum label sits alongside a full ray-diagram construction. Practising with instant marking helps because it flags straight away when a ray is drawn freehand instead of with a ruler, or when a wavelength in centimetres is left unconverted to metres.
What examiners look for
- Ray diagrams are marked down for imprecise or non-continuous lines; examiners expect straight, ruled rays passing cleanly through the focal point.
- Wavelengths given in centimetres are often left unconverted to metres before use in the wave equation.
- A recurring confusion is describing loudness in terms of pitch or frequency rather than amplitude.
- Foghorn frequency answers pitched above 2000 Hz are too high for the sound described and are not credited.
- Reports flag units written as HZ, hz or hZ as unacceptable; only Hz is correct, and 3.0 x 10^5 km/s is accepted as an alternative to the SI form for the speed of light.
May–June 2025, Paper 11
The diagram shows part of a wave. Two points are labelled X and Y. There are four wavelengths between X and Y. In 2.0 s, all four wavelengths pass point Y. What is the frequency…
Answer this question and get it marked →The diagram shows a ray of light reflected by a plane mirror. Four angles, w, x, y and z, are labelled. Two lines, P and Q, are labelled. P is the dashed line perpendicular to the…
Answer this question and get it marked →An astronaut is outside a space station in the vacuum of space. The astronaut is wearing a spacesuit. A second astronaut is inside the space station. This astronaut makes a…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 12
Which electromagnetic radiation has the lowest frequency? A gamma B infrared C radio D ultraviolet
Answer this question and get it marked →A man hits a post with a hammer. This produces a sound. A student is a distance of 170 m from the man. The speed of sound in air is 340 m/s. How much time does it take for the…
Answer this question and get it marked →A stone dropped into a pond produces 20 circular wave crests in 1.0 minute. What is the frequency of the wave? A 0.050 Hz B 0.33 Hz C 3.0 Hz D 20 Hz
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 13
The diagram represents a wave drawn on a grid. The vertical extent of the wave (peak to trough) spans 6.0 cm, and the horizontal extent shown spans 8.0 cm and contains two…
Answer this question and get it marked →The diagram shows a wave on water moving towards a straight barrier. The direction of the wave is shown by an arrow, with wavefronts approaching the barrier at an angle from…
Answer this question and get it marked →A student uses electronic equipment to determine the speed of sound in air. The apparatus shows a drum, detector 1, a timer and detector 2 arranged in a line. The student hits the…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 21
A student moves one end of a long rope up and down through a short distance. A transverse wave travels along the rope in the direction shown. The student now moves the rope up and…
Answer this question and get it marked →The diagram shows a ray of light reflected at a plane mirror, X. The reflected ray strikes another plane mirror, Y. Mirror Y is at 90° to mirror X. The angle between the incident…
Answer this question and get it marked →Sound travels in solids, liquids and gases. The speed of sound is different in each state. Which row shows the state with the lowest and highest speed? lowest speed highest speed…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 22
A student vibrates the end of a horizontal rope and sends a wave along the rope. The wave is shown in the diagram. The vertical distance from the top of a crest to the bottom of a…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which description of the image of an object in a plane mirror is correct? A real and smaller than the object B real and the same size as the object C virtual and smaller than the…
Answer this question and get it marked →What is the speed of infrared waves in a vacuum? A 3.0 m/s B 330 m/s C 3.0 × 10^8 m/s D 330 × 10^8 m/s
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 23
The diagram shows a section of a rope. Four wave crests pass a point on the rope every second. Each wave crest travels 80 cm in one second. The diagram shows a transverse wave on…
Answer this question and get it marked →Which statement about waves is correct? A In a longitudinal wave, the vibration of the particles is at right angles to the direction of the wave. B In a sound wave, the vibration…
Answer this question and get it marked →A student measures the time taken for sound to travel a distance of 1.0 m in air, in water and in steel. The student puts the three materials in order of time taken, from shortest…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 33
The list shows some types of wave: infrared waves, microwaves, radio waves, sound waves, visible light waves, water waves. Choose types of wave from the list to answer these…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 43
Fig. 3.1 shows a television (TV) connected to a satellite dish. The satellite dish receives microwave signals from a satellite above the Earth. Fig. 3.2 is an electromagnetic…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 42
Fig. 9.1 shows a candle made of wax. (a) A thin converging lens is used to focus light from the candle. Fig. 9.2 shows three rays of light incident on the lens (three parallel…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 43
(a) Complete the sentences about sound. Use one word or a number in each gap. Sound is produced by ............ sources. The healthy human ear can hear frequencies of sound…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 31
Fig. 9.1 shows a student using a laptop computer with a lamp beside the student. The student sees the light from the lamp reflected in the computer screen. Fig. 9.2 is a diagram…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 33
A person's voice emits sound as longitudinal waves, represented by wave graphs of displacement against time. Fig. 9.1 shows wave graph A and wave graph B as they travel through…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 41
Fig. 9.1 shows a student using a laptop computer with a lamp beside the student. Fig. 9.2 is a diagram of the student (eye), lamp and computer screen; the ray shows how the…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 43
Fig. 9.1 represents a sound wave travelling through air between two people (pressure against distance). Describe in terms of particle separation what the peaks and troughs on the…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 31
Many security measures are used in airports. There are seven regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Fig. 9.1 shows an incomplete spectrum (gamma radiation, X-rays, ultraviolet,…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 32
Fig. 9.1 shows a lighthouse used at night to warn ships of dangerous rocks in the water; it produces a parallel beam of visible light. A thin converging lens is used to form the…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 33
Fig. 9.1 shows a lighthouse used at night to warn ships of dangerous rocks in the water; it produces a parallel beam of visible light. A thin converging lens is used to form the…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 41
Fig. 9.1 represents a sound wave in air, showing air particles arranged in regions of compression and rarefaction. On Fig. 9.1, draw: a label line and the letter C to the centre…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 42
Fig. 6.1 shows a lighthouse used at night to warn ships of dangerous rocks in the sea. Light from the lamp is focused to form two parallel beams using two identical thin…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 43
Fig. 9.1 shows an ultraviolet torch used to kill bacteria and viruses on surfaces. When switched on, the torch emits both ultraviolet radiation and visible light. Fig. 9.2 shows…
Answer this question and get it marked →Other IGCSE Science - Combined topics
- Practical skills (96)
- Motion, forces and energy (53)
- Electricity and magnetism (38)
- Human nutrition (23)
- Acids, bases and salts (22)
- Organisms and their environment (21)
- Organic chemistry (21)
- Reproduction (20)
- Thermal physics (20)
- Plant nutrition (19)
- The Periodic Table (18)
- Metals (18)