Properties of Waves Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A wave enters a medium in which it travels more slowly. Its frequency stays constant. What happens to its wavelength?
It decreases because speed equals frequency times wavelength
It remains constant with the frequency
It increases because the wave bends
It becomes zero at the boundary
2. On a displacement-versus-distance graph, which measurement represents one wavelength?
The vertical distance from equilibrium to a crest
The vertical distance from a crest to a trough
The horizontal distance from one crest to the next crest
The horizontal distance from equilibrium to the nearest crest
3. What distinguishes a transverse wave from a longitudinal wave?
It can travel only through empty space
Its oscillations are perpendicular to its direction of travel
Its oscillations are parallel to its direction of travel
It always travels faster than a longitudinal wave
4. What does the amplitude of a wave measure?
The maximum displacement from the equilibrium position
The distance traveled by one complete cycle
The number of cycles produced each second
The time required for the wave to cross a medium
5. Two notes are played at the same loudness, but one sounds higher in pitch. Which property is greater for the higher-pitched note?
Amplitude
Intensity
Period
Frequency
6. A wave has a frequency of 6 Hz and a wavelength of 2 m. What is its speed?
12 m/s
8 m/s
3 m/s
24 m/s
7. A sound wave passes from air into water. Which property is fixed by the source and therefore remains unchanged at the boundary?
Speed
Frequency
Direction in every case
Wavelength
8. Which type of wave can propagate through a vacuum?
A sound wave
A water surface wave
An electromagnetic wave
A compression wave in a spring
9. In the same medium, the amplitude of a wave is doubled while other relevant conditions remain unchanged. If intensity is proportional to amplitude squared, how does the intensity change?
It is halved
It becomes four times as great
It doubles
It remains unchanged
10. Two identical wave crests arrive at the same point at the same time. What occurs there?
Refraction changes the direction of both waves
Destructive interference produces zero displacement
Constructive interference produces a larger displacement
Diffraction reduces the frequency of both waves
11. A wave completes one cycle every 0.25 seconds. What is its frequency?
0.25 Hz
8 Hz
2 Hz
4 Hz
12. An ambulance with its siren sounding moves toward a stationary observer. Compared with the emitted frequency, what frequency does the observer detect?
A higher frequency because successive wavefronts arrive closer together
The same frequency because the source sound is unchanged
Zero frequency when the ambulance reaches the observer
A lower frequency because the wave speed decreases
13. A pulse travels along a rope and reaches an end that is firmly fixed to a wall. How does the reflected pulse return?
With twice the original wavelength
Without any change in orientation
At twice the original frequency
Inverted relative to the incoming pulse
14. Water waves approach openings of different widths. Through which opening will diffraction be most noticeable?
An opening much wider than the wavelength
Any opening, because width does not affect diffraction
An opening that blocks the wave completely
An opening approximately as wide as the wavelength
15. In a longitudinal wave, how is one wavelength identified?
The distance from a compression to the adjacent rarefaction
The maximum sideways displacement of a particle
The distance from the center of one compression to the center of the next
The total distance traveled by the wave in one second
16. A point on a standing wave remains at zero displacement while nearby points oscillate. What is this point called?
An antinode
A node
A compression
A wavefront