Waves assessment Revision

How does sound travel?

An object makes sound by vibrating.

Transverse waves.

The wave travels away from the source and the direction of the wave is at a right angle to the movement of the source.
In transverse waves the coils do not travel uncontrollably each coil of the slinky vibrates up and down. Some examples
are water waves, electromagnetic waves, light waves.

longitude waves.

The direction of the wave is parallel to the movement of the source.

How does sound transfer energy?

A wave carries energy information from a place to another. The vibrating makes the air molecules vibrate forwards and
backwards in the direction of movement of the soundwave. this produces compressions and rare factions.

Compression is when the wavelengths are close together and rarefaction is when the wavelengths are spread apart.

Quicker sounds have smaller amplitude.

Frequency is the number of waves produced in a second.

Loud sounds have large amplitude and high frequencies however low sounds are the opposite.

Making and detecting soundwaves.

You can make sound on the microphone and detect it with the loudspeaker a microphone converts changes in air
pressure to a changing potential difference. Loudspeaker converts a changing potential to changes in air pressure when
a singer sings into a microphone. The sound waves hit a flexible plate called the diaphragm the diaphragm vibrates and
produces a change in potential difference. Loudspeakers convert the changing potential difference back into sound
when they vibrate soundwaves with the frequency above 20,000 Hz are called ultrasound can only have frequencies up
to 20 Hz but use ultrasound to find food doctors use ultrasound to create images when sound or ultrasound interacts
with solids or liquids it makes the particles in the materials vibrate. this means you can use ultrasound to shake dust
from objects ultrasound warms muscular and ligaments helping them heal faster when ultrasound interacts with liquids
it can make the molecule move faster meaning the liquids get warmer.

Ultrasound in sonar

Sona is a technology used in ships transmitters under the ships. Send a beam of ultrasound travels through the water and
reflects of the seabed. The receiver detects the reflection, and the receivers use the time taken for the reflection to
calculate the depth of the water.

Uses of ultrasound.

In a pregnancy, a transducer emitting ultrasound send high frequency sound waves and receives the echoing waves.

The echoing waves are picked up by the transducer and relayed to the machine which calculates the distance from the
transducer to the tissue or organ using the speed of sound in the tissue.

The ultrasound transducer emits soundwaves the soundwaves bounce off the baby like an echo. The echo is then
detected by the transducer. The transducer sends the information to a computer which makes it into a grey image.

Radiation and energy.

 The electromagnet spectrum is a is continuous, but we separate it into different bands of frequencies. Visible light has
arranged a frequency you have seen this when you split white light with the prism the energy of a wave depends on its
frequency the higher the frequency the more energy the wave transfers.

Radiation and Energy

Out of all the different types of radiations, the only one the human eye can see is visible light. The more towards the
left you go, the more it increases in wavelength, however the more towards the right you go, it increases in frequency.
There are 6 different types of radioactive waves –

Radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, UV, X-rays, and gamma rays.

The electromagnetic spectrum is continuous however we separate it into different bands of frequencies. Visible light
has a range of frequencies, and you can see this when you split it up in a prism. The energy of a wave depends on its
frequency. So, the more frequency there is, the more energy the wave transfers.

Electromagnetic spectrum –

RADIO WAVES

These have the longest wavelength of all electromagnetic waves, ranging from a few centimetres to several kilometres or
more. They also have the lowest energy.

What can it pass through?

Radio waves can pass easily through air. They can also pass through many solids. There is part of the atmosphere, called the
ionosphere, which reflects longer wavelength radio waves rather than letting them pass through.

What is it used for?

Transmitting radio and television programmes across long distances: Radio waves, like light waves, travel in straight lines.
We can bounce the radio waves off the ionosphere.

Hazards: Radio waves do not have any specific dangers. It is for this reason what they are so widely used for
communication.

MICROWAVES These have wavelengths of around 0.1cm to 10cm.

What can it pass through?

Microwaves pass easily through air but absorbed by living tissue and other materials. Microwaves are good for transmitting
information from one place to another because microwave energy can get through light rain, snow, clouds, and smoke.

What is it used for?

 - Cooking food: The microwaves transfers energy to water molecules in the food. The energy carried by the waves
heats the food up.
 - Sending signals to and from satellites: This lets us send signals right across the world, via satellites.
 - Mobile phones: These use microwaves to send signals between your mobile phone and antennas.

Hazards: Microwaves can heat up water (as in your microwave oven), and our bodies contain a lot of water, so
microwaves can cause heating of body tissues. Now some people think microwaves from mobile phones and base
stations can hurt you.

ULTRAVIOLET

These have wavelengths of around 0.00001mm to 0.0004mm. They are absorbed by some materials, including skin, and can
cause some materials to emit light. When this occurs, it is called fluorescence.
What can it pass through?

Ultraviolet waves cannot pass through most solid materials. For example, they can’t pass through glass (which is why you
won’t get a sunburn through a closed window). They also do not pass through clothing very much (except for very thin
fabrics). Ultraviolet waves can pass through air easily, except for a high layer of the Earth’s atmosphere called the ozone
layer, which blocks a lot (though not all) of the ultraviolet radiation from the sun. You may have heard that the ozone layer
is getting thinner, which means that we are being exposed to more ultraviolet radiation.

What is it used for?

 - Sunbeds: Sunbeds use ultraviolet lamps. The skin absorbs them and creates melanin, which causes the skin to get
darker or tan.
 - Detecting forged bank notes: To make them more difficult to forge, real notes have some patterns or marks on
them made with fluorescent dyes. These dyes cannot be seen in visible light, but if you shine ultraviolet light on
them, they convert energy in the ultraviolet radiation into visible light.
 - Security coding: An identity code can be written onto a valuable item in fluorescent ink. The code is invisible
under normal light, but the police can read it under an ultraviolet light. Stolen goods can be identified by their
codes and returned to their original owners.

Hazards: Ultraviolet radiation can be quite dangerous. Stay in the sun too long and your skin will burn. Too much
exposure to ultraviolet light may lead to skin cancer later. Too much ultraviolet light can, in the long term, damage
your eyes – particularly the layer of cells at the back (called the retina) where the image appears.

X-RAYS

These have very short wavelengths and very high energies. X-rays are a type of ‘ionising radiation’, which means
radiation that can change the stuff that objects are made of.

What can it pass through?

X-rays are quite penetrating. They pass through air very easily, as well as low-density solids such as body tissue.
They are partially stopped by bone and thin metal.

What is it used for?

X-ray machines: These are used to make pictures of your bones. This works because x-rays pass easily through
most body tissue, but not through bone. So, in an x-ray image, pictures of the bones are left on the film, while the
rest of your tissue appears almost transparent.

Hazards: Medical staff use photographic film badges that allow them to monitor exposure.

INFRARED WAVES

These have wavelengths longer than the red end of visible light. The wavelengths range between about 0.0007mm and
0.003mm. They are reflected by shiny surfaces, but absorbed by some materials, depending on the wavelength. Infrared
waves are given off by all hot objects.

What can it pass through?

Infra-red waves easily penetrate air but are stopped by most solids. However, they can penetrate glass (which is why you
can still feel the sun’s heat through a car windscreen).

What is it used for?

 - Night vision: Most objects emit (send out) infra-red radiation, and the hotter the object, the more infra-red
radiation it emits. We cannot see it, but we can make detectors which can. These detectors are used in night-vision
cameras or goggles, which can show us what’s around even when there is no visible light for us to see by.
 - Security systems: These use infra-red cameras to spot intruders at night by the heat of their bodies.
  - Remote controls: These send out infra-red waves, which are detected by the TV, stereo or other device. Encoded
into the waves are messages which tell the device what to do. (By the way, remote controls use the shortest
wavelengths of infra-red, which do not heat things up very much – so your hand will not get warm if you aim your
remote control at it!)

Hazards: Absorbed by the skin, which then heats up. This is why you feel warmer in direct sunlight than in the
shade. Too much infra-red radiation could give you skin burns (although this is not common).

VISIBLE LIGHT WAVES These have wavelengths of around 0.0004mm to 0.0007mm.

What can it pass through?

They are reflected by shiny surfaces, but absorbed by some materials, depending on the wavelength. Cells in the
eyes are specially adapted to detecting visible light.

What is it used for?

 - Seeing: Our eyes use visible light to see. All the electromagnetic spectrum is invisible to us except for this tiny
portion.
 - Cameras: These record images of how things appear in visible light. On a normal film camera, the film is coated
with chemicals which undergo chemical reactions when exposed to light. Digital cameras use a detector to record
the image electronically. The camera’s processor (a minicomputer) then breaks this electronic information down
into digital data.

Hazards: None.

GAMMA RAYS

These have the shortest wavelength of all electromagnetic waves. They also have the highest energy. There are not many
things that emit gamma rays, but some radioactive materials do. Some extreme objects in space also emit gamma rays; one
example is a supernova or exploding star.

What can it pass through?

These are the most penetrating of all types of electromagnetic radiation. They can pass straight through your body, for
example.

What is it used for?

 - Sterilising food and medical equipment: Because gamma rays can kill living cells, they can be used to destroy
bacteria, mould or insects on food or medical equipment.
 - Treatment of cancers: Cancer cells can be killed by gamma rays. This treatment is called radiotherapy. However,
gamma rays also kill healthy cells, so the treatment must be carefully designed to target the cancer cells only.

Hazards: Reasonably safe in low doses, as they pass straight through your body without being absorbed much.
However, high exposures can kill living cells.

Modelling waves –

There are 2 different types of waves, longitudinal and transverse.

Longitudinal –

The particles vibrate horizontally, and they have compressions and rarefactions. Compressions of the wave occurs
when the particle of the wave is closely touching or together, and rarefactions are when they are widely spread
apart. Some examples of longitudinal waves are soundwaves.

Transverse –
The particle in transverse soundwaves travel 90 degrees from one another and travel from left to right. They are
usually faster than longitudinal waves, and its particles vibrate vertically. They have troughs and peaks. Some
examples of transverse waves are water waves and light waves.

Modelling longitudinal waves –

You can use a slinky to model longitudinal waves depending on how you create it. The wave must move but the
slinky does not. You can reflect a pulse from a fixed end, and this pulse moves along the spring. The amplitude
decreases as the wave moves because energy is transferred by friction.

Modelling transverse waves –

The waves move but the slinky does not. You can reflect a pulse from a fixed end, and this pulse also moves along
the spring. The amplitude decreases as the wave moves because energy is transferred by friction.

Model waves – ripples.

Water waves are rippling that travel through water. Water waves are transverse waves because the surface of the
water moves up and down, at 90° to the direction that the wave is travelling. The waves move but the water does
not. As you move your hand more quickly the waves travel at the same speed, but the wavelength decreases as the
frequency increases.

Waves slow down when they go from deep to shallow waters and they change direction. This explains why light is
refracted when it goes from one medium to another, with a different density.

Superposition is seen when 2 waves of the same type are combined.

In phase means that the peaks and troughs of the first lane line up with the peaks and troughs of the 2nd wave. If 2
waves meet up in phase they add together, and this produces a greater amplitude, so the peaks are higher, and the
troughs are lower. However, if 2 waves meet each other out of phase, the cancel out. This means that the
amplitudes of the 2 waves subtract and create a smaller wave with a smaller amplitude. If the 2 waves have an
equal amplitude, the cancel out completely.