Name:________________________________________________Date:____________________

Unit 10

Waves and Wave Properties

Problem Set 10

Part One: General Wave Concepts

1. For the graph below, identify the crest, trough, wavelength and amplitude.

2. How are mechanical waves (such as sound waves) these different from electromagnetic waves (such
as light waves)?
3. How do transverse and longitudinal waves differ?
4. Identify which wave on diagram to the right is longitudinal
and which is transverse.
5. Are sound waves longitudinal or transverse waves? Are light waves longitudinal or transverse
waves?
6. As a result of a distance explosion, an observer first sees the explosion, then hears the it. What
accounts for this time lag? (why do you see it before you hear it?)
7. If the explosion had taken place in outerspace, how would what the observer sees and hears be
different?
8. As a wave passes by a duck floating on a lake, the duck bobs up and down but remains in essentially
one place. Explain why the duck is not carried along by the wave motion.
9. What is the difference between constructive interference and destructive interference?
10. Using the superposition principle, draw the resultant waves for each of the examples below.

11. Which picture below demonstrates two waves interfering constructively?

12. Which wave below is the resultant wave created by the other two?
13. Look at the standing wave shown here. How many nodes does this wave have? How many
antinodes?

Question #13
Question #11

Question #12

Part Two: Sound Wave Concepts

14. Two tuning forks with frequencies of 256 Hz and 512 Hz are struck. Which of the sound will move
faster through the air?
15. What is the only way to change the speed of which sound travels?
16. Look at the list below: Choose which of the follow factors change when a sound gets louder.
17. Look at the list below: Choose which changes when a pitch gets higher.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

Intensity
Speed of the sound wave
Frequency
Decibel level
Wavelength
Amplitude

Name:________________________________________________Date:____________________

Part Three: Electromagnetic Wave Concepts

18. Identify which type of wave (which portion of the electromagnetic spectrum) is used in each of the
devices.
a.
b.
c.
d.

19.
20.
21.
22.

A microwave oven, radar

A television set, GPS
A single-lens camera
Cancer treatments

How fast do X-rays travel in a vacuum? Microwaves? Visible light?

Which band of the electromagnetic spectrum has the lowest frequency?
Which band of the electromagnetic spectrum has the shortest wavelength?
Why do astronomers observing distant galaxies talk about looking backward in time?

Part Four: The Doppler Effect Concepts

23. If a star is moving away from Earth, will it be red shifted or blue shifted?
24. If a star is moving toward the Earth, will it be red shifted or blue shifted?
25. The diagram below depicts the Doppler Effect as it relates to sound. In this diagram, which
listener (A or B) hears a higher pitch (a higher frequency wave)?

Part Five: Problem Solving

26. A piano emits frequencies that range from a low of about 28Hz to a high of about 4200Hz. Find the
wavelength of each in air attained by this instrument when the speed of sound is air is 340m/s.
27. Yellow light travels through a certain glass block at a speed of 1.97x10 8m/s. The wavelength of the
light in this particular type of glass is 3.81x10-7m (381nm). What is the frequency of the yellow light
in the glass block?
28. What is the wavelength of a middle C-note if its frequency is 262 Hz?
29. Gamma-ray bursters are objects in the universe that emit pulses of gamma rays with high energies.
The frequency of the most energetic bursts has been measured at around 3.0x10 21 Hz. What is the
wavelength of these gamma rays?
30. The smallest insects that a bat can detect are approximately the size of one wavelength of the sound
the bat makes. What is the minimum frequency of sound waves required for the bat to detect an
insect that is 0.57cm long? (Assume the speed of sound is 340m/s).
31. The red light emitted by a He-Ne laser has a wavelength of 633 nm in air and travels at 3.00x10 8m/s.
Find the frequency of the laser light.
32. The portion of the visible spectrum that appears brightest to the human eye is around 560nm in
wavelength, which corresponds to yellow-green. What is the frequency of 560nm light?
33. What is the frequency of a sound wave produced by a flute playing C-note if the wavelength is 21m?
34. What is the frequency of highly energetic ultraviolet radiation that has a wavelength of 125nm?
35. What is the wavelength of a radar signal that has a frequency of 33 GHz?
36. What is the wavelength for an FM radio signal if the number on the dial reads 99.5MHz?