Waves: GCSE Combined Science Physics practice questions

Question 1 Hard

A boat sends a pulse of ultrasound to the sea bed and the echo returns after 0.8 s. The speed of sound in water is 1500 m/s. Calculate the depth of the water.

Question 2 Hard

Sound travels at 1500 m/s in water. An echo from the sea bed returns after 0.4 s. Work out the depth of the water.

Question 3 Hard

Sound travels at 1500 m/s in water. An echo from the sea bed returns after 0.2 s. Work out the depth of the water.

Question 4 Hard

Sound travels at 340 m/s in air and the echo from a cliff returns after 0.2 s. Work out the distance to the cliff.

Question 5 Hard

A ray of light enters a glass block at an angle. Does it bend towards or away from the normal?

Question 6 Hard

Which type of electromagnetic radiation is used to sterilise medical equipment?

Check 1

What does a wave transfer from one place to another?

1. energy and matter
2. energy only
3. matter only

Check 2

In a transverse wave, how does the oscillation line up with the direction of travel?

1. at right angles to it
2. parallel to it
3. in the opposite direction

Check 3

In a longitudinal wave, how does the oscillation line up with the direction of travel?

1. at right angles to it
2. it does not oscillate
3. parallel to it

Check 4

Which of these is a longitudinal wave?

1. light
2. sound
3. ripples on water

Check 5

What is a compression in a sound wave?

1. a patch where particles are squashed together
2. a patch where particles are spread out
3. the top of a wave

Check 6

What is the amplitude of a wave?

1. the distance from one crest to the next
2. the number of waves each second
3. the biggest height above the rest line

Check 7

What is the wavelength of a wave?

1. the height of the wave
2. the length of one whole wave
3. the number of waves each second

Check 8

What is the frequency of a wave?

1. waves passing a point each second
2. the length of one wave
3. how tall the wave is

Check 9

What is the unit of frequency?

1. metres per second, m/s
2. metres, m
3. hertz, Hz

Check 10

What is the unit of wavelength?

1. hertz, Hz
2. metres, m
3. seconds, s

Check 11

Write the wave speed equation in words.

1. wave speed = frequency × wavelength
2. wave speed = frequency + wavelength
3. wave speed = frequency ÷ wavelength

Check 12

A wave has a frequency of 10 Hz and a wavelength of 2 m. What is its speed?

1. 12 m/s
2. 5 m/s
3. 20 m/s

Check 13

A wave travels at 30 m/s and has a frequency of 5 Hz. What is its wavelength?

1. 150 m
2. 6 m
3. 35 m

Check 14

Roughly how fast does sound travel in air?

1. 340 m/s
2. 3 m/s
3. 300 000 000 m/s

Check 15

Why do you divide by 2 when you use an echo to find a distance?

1. sound travels slower on the way back
2. there are two walls
3. the sound travels to the surface and back

Check 16

An echo comes back after 0.1 s. Sound travels at 340 m/s. How far away is the wall?

1. 34 m
2. 17 m
3. 3400 m

Check 17

What is the law of reflection?

1. the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence
2. the angle of reflection is double the angle of incidence
3. the two angles add up to 90°

Check 18

From which line are the angles of incidence and reflection measured?

1. the mirror surface
2. the horizontal
3. the normal

Check 19

What is refraction?

1. a wave bounces off a surface
2. a wave changes direction because its speed changes
3. a wave gets taller

Check 20

A light ray slows down as it enters glass at an angle. Which way does it bend?

1. towards the normal
2. away from the normal
3. it does not bend

Check 21

Which list shows the electromagnetic spectrum from longest wavelength to shortest?

1. gamma, X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwave, radio
2. radio, infrared, microwave, visible, X-ray, ultraviolet, gamma
3. radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma

Check 22

What is the same for every EM wave travelling in a vacuum?

1. their wavelength
2. their speed
3. their frequency

Check 23

What is wrong with this: 'Sound travels through space from the Sun to Earth.'

1. sound needs a material and space is a vacuum
2. nothing is wrong, because sound is an EM wave
3. sound is too fast to travel through space

Check 24

Which EM waves can damage living cells because they are ionising?

1. radio waves
2. visible light
3. gamma rays

Check 25

What is the period of a wave?

1. The number of waves passing a point each second
2. The distance between two crests
3. The time for one complete wave to pass a point

Check 26

A wave has a frequency of 4 Hz. What is its period?

1. 0.25 s
2. 4 s
3. 0.4 s

Check 27

How can you measure the speed of sound in air over a long distance?

1. Measure its frequency with a ruler.
2. Time a bang over a long measured distance.
3. Use a ripple tank.

Check 28

Roughly how fast does sound travel in air?

1. About 3 m/s
2. About 300 000 000 m/s
3. About 330 m/s

Check 29

What is a ripple tank used for?

1. To measure the speed of water waves
2. To measure the speed of sound
3. To measure the speed of light

Check 30

Why is a bigger distance better for measuring the speed of sound?

1. Sound moves faster over a bigger distance.
2. The error from reaction time matters less.
3. The stopwatch works better.

Check 31

What happens to the speed of every EM wave in a vacuum?

1. Radio waves travel faster than gamma rays.
2. Light travels faster than microwaves.
3. They all travel at the same speed.

Check 32

Which part of the electromagnetic spectrum can our eyes detect?

1. Visible light
2. Ultraviolet
3. Infrared

Check 33

Where do gamma rays come from?

1. Electrons moving between energy levels
2. Changes in the nucleus of an atom
3. Oscillations in electrical circuits

Check 34

Higher tier. How are radio waves produced?

1. By changes in the nucleus of an atom
2. By very hot objects only
3. By oscillations in an electrical circuit

Check 35

Higher tier. What happens when a radio wave is absorbed by an aerial?

1. It creates an alternating current at the same frequency.
2. It creates a direct current.
3. It makes the aerial radioactive.

Check 36

Higher tier. How do wave fronts explain refraction?

1. The whole wave front stops.
2. One end slows first, so the wave fronts turn.
3. The frequency changes.

Check 37

What is a hazard of ultraviolet radiation?

1. It makes objects radioactive.
2. It always causes burns in seconds.
3. It can age skin early and cause skin cancer.

Check 38

Why are X-rays and gamma rays dangerous to living cells?

1. They are ionising and can cause mutation and cancer.
2. They are very hot.
3. They are very slow.

Check 39

What is the unit of radiation dose?

1. The becquerel, Bq
2. The sievert, Sv
3. The hertz, Hz

Check 40

In the infrared practical, which surface radiates the most infrared?

1. A shiny silver surface
2. A shiny white surface
3. A matt black surface

Check 41

Why do X-rays show broken bones?

1. Bone absorbs them and soft tissue lets them through.
2. Bone reflects all the X-rays.
3. Soft tissue absorbs more than bone.

Check 42

In the glass block practical, how do you draw the normal?

Check 43

How does the emerging ray compare with the incident ray in a glass block?

Check 44

Which radiations can cause skin cancer and eye damage?

Check 45

What are gamma rays used for in hospitals?