DC Physical Science: Waves, Sound, Light, and Mirrors

What is a longitudinal wave?

A wave that causes particles in the medium to vibrate perpendicular to the direction of wave motion

What is a longitudinal wave?

A wave that causes particles in a medium to vibrate in the same direction of wave motion

What is a wave?

A wave is the movement of energy from one location to another without overall movement of matter

Will a wave move the medium it's traveling in?

The medium will vibrate but will not move along with the wave

Which wave tends to be faster in denser media? Transverse or longitudinal?

Longitudinal waves tend to move faster in denser media

What is the formula for wave speed?

wave speed = frequency x wavelength

What is a mechanical wave?

Waves that require a medium to travel through

What type of waves can mechanical waves be?

Can be transverse or longitudinal waves

What are electromagnetic waves?

Waves that can travel through a vacuum and do not require a medium to travel through

What type of waves can electromagnetic waves be?

Can only be transverse waves

What is reflection?

The bouncing back of a wave after encountering a boundary or obstacle

What is a refraction?

The bending of waves when because of a change in speed due to a change in medium

What is diffraction?

Diffraction is the spreading of waves around an obstacle

What is Superposition?

The property of wave that allows waves to pass through each other without ultimately being affected

Superposition: Constructive Interference, what is it?

When two waves travel in the same direction and are in phase with each other, their amplitude gets added

Superposition: Destructive Interference, what is it?

Occurs when two waves meet and their displacements are in opposite directions, resulting in a reduction or cancellation of the overall amplitude of the resulting wave

What determines the speed of the wave traveling through it?

The properties of the medium determines the speed of the wave traveling through it

Sound travels faster in which properties of a media?

Sound travels faster in media that are denser and/or hotter

What is supersonic?

When an object travels faster than the speed of sound

What is a sonic boom?

A large amplitude wave that gets released when the sound barrier is broken so an object can travel faster than sound

For sound, what's our perception of amplitude? What is it measured in?

Loudness is our perception of amplitude. Decibels are used to measure the loudness of sounds

What is amplitude based on?

The amount of energy in a wave

What is amplitude?

How far the medium moves back and forth

For sound, what's our perception of frequency?

Pitch our perception of frequency. High pitches equal higher frequencies and vice versa

What is frequency?

The amount of vibrations per second, the faster the medium vibrates the higher the frequency.

What happens to wavelength as frequency increases?

As frequency increases, wavelength decreases

What is the properties of sound?

Sound is a longitudinal mechanical wave

Why does sound require a medium?

Because sound moves through the collision particles

As the density of a medium increases, how does this affect the speed of longitudinal waves?

The speed of longitudinal waves increases

What waves undergo the Doppler Effect?

All waves undergo the Doppler Effect

What is the Doppler Effect?

The change in frequency or wavelength of a wave as the source moves closer to you. If the source is closer to you, the frequency of the wave increases.

What is one way the Doppler Effect used?

In storm tracking, a wave with a specific frequency is sent out to a storm, bounce off heavier clouds and based on difference in frequency, speed and direction could be calculated

What are the properties of light?

Light is a transverse, electromagnetic wave.

As frequency of light increases, what happens to the energy the electromagnetic wave has?

The more energy the wave will have

How does color relate to frequency of light?

We see color based on the frequency of light that is reflected off an object's surface.

What is true of wave-particle duality?

Light is a both a particle and a wave, this is because light is made of waves called photons.

What is brightness of light based on?

Brightness is based on the number of photons that strike a surface

What proves light is based on frequency unlike other waves?

Blackbody radiation which states that an object's temperature is related to the color it glows when hot

How does distance affect light?

The farther a light source the more spread out the light energy is and becomes less intense

What is the law of reflection?

The angle at which a wave hits a surface will be the angle at which it reflects

What is the law of refraction?

Light slows down in denser mediums causing light to bend more vertically, less dense light bends more horizontally

What is a convex lens?

A lens that curves outward like a sphere

What do convex lens do?

Smaller upright images, virtual like appearing inside the mirror

What are concave lens?

A lens that curves inward, like the inner surface of a bowl

What do concave lens do?

Bigger upright images

What is a plane mirror?

A flat mirror

What do plane mirrors do?

Images appear the same size (appear to be inside the mirror)

How do concave mirrors affect on light?

Bend light away from the focal point

How do convex mirrors affect light?

Bends light towards the focal point

What type of sight do concave lens fix?

Nearsightedness

What type of sight do convex lens fix?

Farsightedness

Farsightedness occurs when the eye is shaped how?

When your eye is flatter than normal (egg)

Nearsightedness occurs when your eye is shaped how?

Your eye is too longer than normal