Name: _____________________________

Welcome to the WAVE WEBQUEST! Do a good job. I will collect this from you and give you a grade for
completionthen next week, I will hand this back to you to use on our Waves Test. Happy hunting!
Wave Basics:
*Go to http://www.acs.psu.edu/drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html
1. What two wave types are being demonstrated? Describe each.
2. Watch the animations and explain how the particles of a medium move in relation to the energy of each of
these waves.

3. Describe how earthquakes are an example of both types of waves.

*Go to
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es1604/es1604page01.cfm?
chapter_no=visualization
4. What type of wave is this? Is it transverse or compressional? Is it mechanical or non-mechanical?
*Go to http://www.ducksters.com/science/physics/waves.php
5. What is a wave?
*Click on Properties of Waves at the bottom of the page
6. Explain how the loudness of sound is affected by the amplitude of the sound wave.
7. What happens to a wave when it goes from one material into another material?
Sound Waves:
*Click on Basics of Sound at the bottom of the page
8. What materials does sound travel faster in?
9. Explain how sound moves through a medium.
*Click on Wave Behavior at the bottom of the page
10. When a wave runs into an object, what different things can happen to the wave?

*Click on Pitch and Acoustics at the bottom of the page

11. Explain how pitch is related to the frequency of a wave.
12. If you were to build a house or public building why might acoustics be an important consideration?
13. Describe the two ways that you can control acoustics.

Which might you use of you wanted to stop sound?

Which would you use if you wanted to enhance sound?

14. Describe the Doppler effect.

*Run the animation on http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/more_stuff/flashlets/doppler.htm
15. Explain how this animation represents the Doppler effect.
16. What happens to the waves that the source produces as the red ball travels?
17. Increase the speed of the source. Describe what happens to the waves. How is this different than what
you started with?
18. How would this effect the sound that you would hear as it passes by you?

19. If the red dot were a plane, which setting would show the plane going faster than the speed of sound?

*For #20 and 21 do your own search

20. How do we use destructive interference in everyday life?
21. How do we use constructive interference in everyday life?
Electromagnetic Waves:
*Go to http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum1.html and fill in the chart on the back. You
will need to click on http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/spectrum_chart.html to find the wavelength,
frequency, and energy ranges. Use http://nasaphysics.cet.edu/electromagnetic-spectrum-(ems).html to find
sizes.
*Go to http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/interact/electromagneticspectrum.html and follow
the tutorial.
22. List three ways you use electromagnetic energy.
23. What are different characteristic of electromagnetic waves?
24. What is frequency?
25. How are frequency and wavelength related?
26. What is the smallest portion of the spectrum?
27. Which waves have the shortest wavelength?
28. Which waves have the longest wavelength?
29. What is one use for gamma waves?
30. Which types of waves carry more energy?

Types of
wave

Radio
Waves

Microwaves

Infrared

Visible
Light

Ultraviolet

X-Rays

Gamma
Rays

Wavelength
range

Frequency
range

Energy
Range

Examples

Uses

About the
size of