3B_ch07_SQ_e

[10162214]
(a) Describe one method to demonstrate that sounds are caused by vibrations.
(2 marks)
(b) Why can vibrations of an object at some distance be detected by a human
ear? (2 marks)

[10162237]
(a) State the audible frequency range for humans. (1 mark)
(b) It is given that the speed of sound in air is 340 m s . Find the range of
–1

wavelengths of sound audible by humans. (2 marks)

(c) Does all sound diffract significantly when it passes through a classroom
door? Explain briefly. (2 marks)

[10162309]
(a) State three differences between sound waves and light waves. (3 marks)
(b) State the speeds of sound and light in air. (2 marks)

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[10162364]
John is a construction worker who works in a noisy environment every day.

(a) State two harmful effects of continuous exposure to noise. (2 marks)

(b) Suggest how John can protect himself from these harmful effects. (1 mark)
(c) Suggest two government measures that can reduce the harmful effects of
noise to the public. (2 marks)

[10162666]
Many modern cities have an underground railway system.
(a) Suggest two advantages of an underground railway system compared to an
overground railway system. (2 marks)
(b) Explain why reflective barriers cannot completely block noise emitted by
busy traffic. (2 marks)
(c) State two harmful effects of noise. (2 marks)

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[10162710]
A sound wave of 1000 Hz is travelling to the right in water. The figure below
shows the positions of some particles at time t = 0.

(a) At t = 0,
(i) name a particle which is at the centre of compression, (1 mark)
(ii) name a particle which is at the centre of rarefaction. (1 mark)
(b) Find the wavelength of the sound wave. The speed of sound in water is
1500 m s1. (2 marks)
(c) Find the time required for the sound wave to travel from particle A to particle
I. (2 marks)

[10162900]
A motion sensor works by emitting ultrasound signals and detecting the echoes
reflected to it. By measuring the time t for an ultrasound signal traveling between
the sensor and the object, the distance between an object and the sensor can be
found.
(a) What phenomenon of wave does the motion sensor make use of in measuring
distance? (1 mark)

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(b) Suppose a student is standing in front of the sensor and the time t measured
by the sensor is 10 ms. Find the distance of the student from the sensor. The
speed of sound in air is 330 m s1. (2 marks)
(c) Explain whether the motion sensor can be used for detecting an astronaut
from a spacecraft on the Moon. (2 marks)

[10163000]
 Figure a shows a loudspeaker. Its cones vibrate to produce sound waves.

Fig a
(a) What type of wave is produced, transverse or longitudinal wave? (1 mark)

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(b) Figure b shows the equilibrium positions of particles A to M and the

positions of the particles at a certain instant.

Fig b
(i) What are the amplitude and the wavelength of the wave? (2 marks)
(ii) Identify the particles that are at the centres of compression and
rarefaction. (4 marks)

[10163092]
 The figure below shows a sound wave travelling to the right in air. Air particles X
and Y are at the centre of a compression and rarefaction respectively.

(a) How does an air particle move when a sound wave passes by it? (1 mark)
(b) At the moment shown in the figure, state
(i) the displacement of X and Y. (2 marks)
(ii) the directions of motion of X and Y. (2 marks)

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

[10163107]
 A sound of frequency 100 Hz travels in air to the right at 330 m s1. The figure
below shows the displacementdistance graph of some air particles at a certain
instant, taking the displacement towards the right as positive.

(a) What is the relationship between the direction of travel of the sound wave
and the direction of vibration of the air particles? (1 mark)
(b) Find the distance between points X and Y. (3 marks)
(c) (i) Find the period of the sound. (2 marks)
(ii) Draw the displacementdistance graph of the air particles after 0.005 s.
(1 mark)

[10163125]
 A student is singing a note of frequency 620 Hz.
(a) Find the wavelength of the note. (Given: Speed of sound in air = 340 m s1)
(2 marks)
(b) If the door of the room is about 0.8 m wide, will the diffraction pattern of the
sound be prominent? Explain your answer briefly. (2 marks)

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

[10163134]
 In a closed space, a sound usually echoes a few times after it is produced. This
phenomenon is called reverberation. In a lecture hall, if the reverberation time is
too long, the audience can hardly hear what the speaker says.

(a) Name the wave phenomenon that gives rise to the reverberation. (1 mark)
(b) Suggest and explain two ways to reduce reverberation in designing the walls
of a lecture hall. (4 marks)

[10163156]
 A hi-fi loudspeaker unit usually contains two or more speaker cones of different
sizes. One speaker cone is for producing low-pitch sounds and the others for
sounds of higher pitches. The sound waves produced by the speaker cones will
bend around the rim of the cones and spread into the room.

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

(a) Name the wave phenomenon described above. (1 mark)

(b) Which speaker cone is more suitable for high-pitch sounds? Explain briefly.
(3 marks)

[10163249]
 Peter is studying in a room. He is facing the windows. Glass windows A and B are
opened as shown below.

There is noise coming from the right outside the room.

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

(a) Explain whether Peter will mainly hear the noise coming from his left or
right. (3 marks)
(b) Suggest how Peter can reduce the noise without closing all the windows.
(1 mark)

[10163299]
 A signal of 2 kHz is fed into two loudspeakers.

(a) What can be heard along PQ? (1 mark)

(b) What is the separation of the loudspeakers if they are about 2 wavelengths
apart? (Given: Speed of sound in air = 340 m s1) (3 marks)
(c) If the distance between the loudspeakers increases, how will the sound heard
along PQ change? (1 mark)

[10163303]
 A CD records musical notes of 100 Hz and 1 kHz. Tony uses this CD and his mini
hi-fi to demonstrate the interference of sound.

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

(a) Should Tony use the note of 100 Hz or 1 kHz? Explain your answer.
(Given: Speed of sound in air = 340 m s1) (5 marks)
(b) Suppose the note other than the one in (a) is used. Describe and explain
briefly what Tony would hear when he walks across in front of the mini hi-fi.
(2 marks)

[10163429]
 (a) (i) Does the waveform of sound depend on the listener? (1 mark)
(ii) State the audible frequency range of human beings. (1 mark)
(b) Matthew is playing a drum and he hits the drum two times a second, i.e. at a
frequency of 2 Hz. Why can people hear the drum despite this low
frequency? (2 marks)

[10163481]
 A pest repeller works by emitting powerful ultrasonic signals.
(a) What is the frequency of the ultrasonic signals? (1 mark)
(b) Are human beings affected by such ultrasonic signals? Explain briefly.
(2 marks)
(c) Name two other applications of ultrasound. (2 marks)

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

[10163489]
 A fast attack submarine USS Salt Lake City (SSN 716) is shown in Figure a. It
detects the distance of an enemy ship by finding the time difference between a
‘ping’ sound it sends out and the echo it receives (Fig b). The speed of sound in
water is 1400 m s1.

Fig a

Fig b
(a) An echo is received 1.5 s after a ‘ping’ sound is emitted. What is the distance
of the enemy ship from the submarine? (2 marks)
(b) Suppose the frequency of the ‘ping’ signal is 2000 Hz. What is the
wavelength of the ‘ping’ signal in water? (2 marks)

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

[10163503]
 Pete is 5 m away from a traffic light. Find the difference in time between seeing
the light and hearing the sound.
(Given: speed of sound in air = 340 m s1
speed of light in air = 3  108 m s1) (3 marks)

[10163518] <lvl=avg><part=core><type=sq><cur=phy,cs><mark=4><bk=3B><ch=07>
 Baseball is very popular in North America.

12
3B_ch07_SQ_e

(a) In a baseball game, a spectator notices that he hears the sound later than he
sees the batter hits the ball. If the delay is 0.8 s, calculate the distance
between the spectator and the batter.
(Given: speed of sound in air = 340 m s1) (2 marks)
(b) If the spectator measures the time interval with a stop-watch and the overall
error due to his reaction time is 0.4 s, estimate the maximum and minimum
possible distance between the spectator and the batter. (2 marks)

[10163547]
 A student is standing at the edge of a cliff. She is watching a firework which is
about 500 m away from her. The time of travel by light is negligible.
(a) If she hears the bang about 1.45 s after the firework is seen, estimate the
speed of sound. (2 marks)
(b) She drops a stone down the cliff. If the time lapse between seeing and
hearing the splash by the stone is 0.1 s, estimate the height of the cliff.
(2 marks)

[10163553] <lvl=avg><part=core><type=sq><cur=phy,cs><mark=5><bk=3B><ch=07>
 Two astronauts are on a mission to build a space station.
(a) In space, astronauts cannot hear each other talking directly. Why? (1 mark)
(b) How can they communicate with each other in space? (1 mark)

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3B_ch07_SQ_e

(c) You are given an electric bell, a glass jar and a vacuum pump. With the aid of
a diagram, describe an experiment to illustrate your answer in (a) on the
Earth. (3 marks)

[10163559]
 The figures below show the traces on a CRO of two notes produced by two
musical instruments. The settings of the CRO are the same in the two cases.

(a) Find the frequencies of the two notes. (3 marks)

(b) Which note has a higher pitch? (1 mark)
(c) Compare the sound intensity level of the two notes. Explain briefly. (2 marks)

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[10163605]
 A Chinese musical instrument plays a note and the waveform of the note is
displayed in the following figure. The CRO is adjusted such that one division
represents 1 ms for the time base and 0.2 V for the Y-input.

(a) Find the frequency of the note. (3 marks)

(b) Sketch the waveform if the note is produced by a tuning fork with the same
pitch and loudness. Assume that the setting of CRO is unchanged. (2 marks)

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