Title Spec ref.
Introduction to waves [Link] + [Link]
Period, frequency and wave speed [Link]
Period, frequency and wave speed [Link]
Measuring wave speeds pt 1 RP 8a [Link]
Measuring wave speeds pt 2 RP 8b [Link]
Reflection of waves [Link]
Reflection of light investigation RP 9a [Link]
Refraction of waves [Link] + [Link] +
[Link]
Refraction of light investigation [Link]
Sound waves and the speed of sound [Link]
Sound waves, microphones and hearing [Link]
Ultrasound and its uses [Link]
Seismic waves [Link]
Seismic waves [Link]
Learning outcomes
Define a wave
Define longitudinal and transverse waves and describe the differences
between them
Give examples of longitudinal waves and transverse waves
Define amplitude and wavelength and identify them from given diagrams
Identify crests/peaks and troughs and compressions and rarefactions from
given diagrams
Describe evidence that, for both ripples
on a water surface and sound waves in air, that waves transfer energy but
do not transfer matter (i.e. it is the wave and not the
water or air itself that travels)
Describe a wave's motion in terms of its amplitude, wavelength,
frequency and period.
Calculate the frequency/period of a wave using the provided equation
Define wave speed
Recall and apply the wave speed equation to solve calculations
Make observations to identify the suitability of apparatus to measure the
frequency and wavelength of ripples on a water surface and take
appropriate measurements RP 8a
Describe a method to measure the speed of ripples on a water
surface RP8a
Make observations to identify the suitability of apparatus to measure the
frequency and wavelength of waves on a string and take appropriate
measurements. RP8b
Describe a method to measure the speed of waves on a string RP8b
State the possiblilties when a wave meets the boundary between two
different materials
Describe the effects of reflection of waves at material interfaces.
Construct ray diagrams to illustrate the
reflection of a wave at the boundary between two different media
Use ray diagrams to explain the difference betwee specular and diffuse
reflection
Investigate the reflection of light by different types of
surface RP 9a
Describe the effects of refraction, transmission and absorption of waves at
material interfaces.
Construct ray diagrams to illustrate the
refraction of a wave at the boundary between two different media
Use wave front diagrams to
explain refraction in terms of the change of speed that happens
when a wave travels from one medium to a different medium.
Investigate how different media refract light differently RP 9b
State whether or not waves are transmitted and refracted in the same
way by different materials
Describe the properties of sound, how sound waves are produced and
how they travel
Explain how the refraction of sound waves as they travel from a solid to
air is different to the refraction of light from a solid to air
Compare the speed of sound waves in solids, liquids and gases
Describe methods of measuring the speed of sound waves in air
Describe how sound waves travel through a solid and how they are passed
from air to a solid
Explain how, when sound waves move from one medium to another how
changes in velocity, frequency and wavelength are inter-related.
State the factors that affect whether or not sound will cause a solid to
vibrate
Describe processes which convert wave disturbances between sound
waves and vibrations in solids, including the effect of sound waves on
microphones and the ear drum
State the frequency range of human hearing and explain why human
hearing is restricted to a limited frequency range
Define ultrasound waves
Describe what happens when an ultrasound wave meets a boundary
between substances
Explain how ultrasound waves can be used to calculate distances to
boundaries and complete relevant calculations of distance and time
Explain how ultrasound waves can be used to help us explore hidden
structures
Explain how ultrasound waves are used in medical and industrial imaging
Explain how echo sounding uses high frequency sound waves (including
but not limited to ultrasound) to explore deep water
Define seismic waves
Define P-waves and S-waves and describe the properties of each type of
seismic wave
Explain how the detection of seismic waves has led to our current
understanding of the Earth's interior, including the size and structure of its
core
What students should know
Waves are vibrations that transfer energy by causing particles or fields to vib
Waves may be either transverse or longitudinal
Vibrations in a transverse wave are perpendicular to the direction of energy tr
Vibrations in a longitudinal wave are parallel to the direction of energy tran
Ripples on a water surface are an example of a transverse wave
Sound waves travelling through air are longitudinal
The amplitude of a wave is the maximum displacement of a point on
a wave away from its undisturbed position. The wavelength of a wave is the dista
point on one wave
to the equivalent point on the adjacent wave.
Tranverse waves have peaks and troughs, longitudinal waves show areas of com
and rarefaction
The frequency of a wave is the number of waves passing a point
each second.
The period of a wave is the time taken for one complete wave to pass a point or
taken for one full oscillation of a wave
The wave speed is the speed at which the energy is transferred (or
the wave moves) through the medium.
The wave speed equation applies to all waves:
wave speed = frequency × wavelength v = f λ where wave speed, v, in metr
second, m/s, frequency, f, in hertz, Hz, wavelength, λ, in metres, m
Waves can be reflected, absorbed, or refracted and transmitted at the boundary
two different materials.
The law of reflection
The rules/conventions for drawing ray diagrams
Rougher surfaces cause diffuse reflection, as the normals along the surface are no
Refraction is due to the difference in the speed of the wave in different substa
Waves are transmitted and refracted differently by different materials
Sound waves can travel through solids as a series of vibrations in the soil
Whether or not a certain frequency of sound will cause an object to vibrate is dep
the material that the object is made of, its shape, and its size
Within the ear, sound waves cause the ear drum and other parts to vibrate which
sensation of sound. The conversion of sound waves to vibrations of solids work
limited frequency range. This restricts the limits of human hearing.
The range of normal human hearing is from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Only frequencies of
this range are able to make the ear drum vibrate.
Ultrasound waves are sound waves with a frequency higher than the upper limit o
for humans (20 kHz).
Ultrasound waves are partially reflected when they meet a boundary between two
media, some of the wave is transmitted and possibly refracted
The time taken between emission of ultrasound waves and the detection of the
reflections can be used to calculate the distance to boundaries and this allows ul
waves to be used for both medical and industrial imaging.
Echo sounding, using high frequency sound waves is used to detect
objects in deep water and measure water depth.
Ultrasound is used for pre-natal scanning and in industry to locate faults
Seismic waves are produced by earthquakes.
P-waves are longitudinal, seismic waves. P-waves travel at different speeds throu
and liquids. S-waves are transverse, seismic waves. S-waves cannot travel through
The study of P-waves and S-waves provided new evidence that led to discoverie
parts of the Earth which are not directly observable, i.e. the Earth’s core
Topic sections for
CGP revision guide Oxford textbook and
pages the other Kerboodle
resources
126 - 127 12.1 - 12.2
126 - 127 12.2
126 - 127 12.2
128 12.2 + 12.4
128 - 129 12.2 + 12.4
130 12.3 + 14.1
133 14.3
133 14.3
131 12.3 + 14.2
132 14.2
152 12.4 + 12.5
152 + 170 12.4 + 12.5
153 - 154 12.6
155 12.7
155 12.7