Name: Christaniqué McIntosh Date: Thursday, June 3, 2021 Period: 3

Introduction to Waves
Define the following terms

1. Wave: A wave is a disturbance that transfers energy without carrying matter.

2. Periodic Wave: A periodic wave is a wave that repeats as a function of both time and
position and can be described by its amplitude, frequency, wavelength, speed and energy.
3. Pulse Wave: A pulse wave is a disturbance that travels from one location to another.
4. Longitudinal wave: Wave consisting of a periodic disturbance or vibration that takes place
in the same direction as the advance of the wave.
5. Transverse Wave: A wave whose medium vibrates at right angles to the direction of its
regions.
6. Medium: The medium is how the waves travel.

Fill in the blanks on the table below.

Property Definition variable S.I. Unit

Velocity The speed of something in v meters/second

a given direction. (m/s)

Frequency Cycles per second f

Hz and cps
It measures the height and
Amplitude maximum distance from the A Meters
peak to the trough. (m)

Wavelength Distance between two peaks y Meters (m)

and troughs of a wave.

7. What is the wave equation?

Ans: v=yf

8. What determines the frequency of a periodic wave?

Ans: The number of waves that pass a fixed point at an exact time.

9. What determines the speed of a wave?

Ans: The speed of a wave is determined by wavelength, frequency, medium, and temperature.

10. Given the answers above, if the frequency of a periodic wave increases, what must happen
to the wave? Use the wave equation to justify your answer. Draw the situation below with
first the low frequency wave and then the higher frequency wave below it.
11. The amplitude of a particular wave is 1 meter. The top-to-bottom distance of the wave is 2.

12. The frequency of the second hand on a clock is 2.

13. The distance between successive identical parts of a wave is called its wavelength.

14. For any given medium, the velocity is always constant.

15. While treading water, you notice a buoy bobbing up and down from the passing waves. You
see the buoy appear 10 times over the course of one minute. What is the frequency (f) of the
buoy?

1
Ans: T =
f
1
f=
T

1
f= =6 Hz
0.166

16. VFW - A wave machine vibrates back and forth at 12 Hz. The wavelength of the resulting
waves is 17 cm (0.17 meters). What is the velocity of the wave?
Ans: v= f × y
v= 12 × 0.17
v= 2.04 m/s

17. VFW - You’re sitting on Ocean Beach in New Hampshire one fine afternoon and you notice
that the waves are crashing on the beach once every 30 seconds. You also estimate the
wavelength to be 1.5 meters. What is the velocity of the waves?

Ans: Hz= 1/T= 1/30 = 0.033hz

V= f × y= 0.033×1.5
V= 0.0495m/s

18. VFW - The lowest frequency sound wave the human ear can hear is 20 Hz. If the speed of
sound is 340 m/s, what is the wavelength of a 20 Hz sound wave?
Ans: y= v/ Hz
y= 340/20
y= 17m
Remember the constant velocity formula!

19. VFW - While at a track meet, you notice a time delay between when you see the starter’s
pistol fire and when you hear it. If that delay is 0.4 seconds, how far away are you? Draw a
picture of the situation.