Sound Science Assessment: Year 7
Part 1: Multiple Choice Questions (40 Questions)
1. What is the primary cause of all sounds?
A) Light
B) Heat
C) Vibrations
D) Electricity
2. To vibrate means to move:
A) In a circle
B) Backwards and forwards very quickly
C) Upwards only
D) Slow and steady
3. If you hit a drum with more force, what happens?
A) The sound becomes quieter
B) The vibration stops
C) It vibrates more and makes a louder sound
D) The pitch becomes higher
4. Where are the vibrations located when you speak?
A) Your tongue
B) Your vocal cords
C) Your teeth
D) Your ears
5. Sound varies in both loudness and:
A) Color
) Texture
C) Pitch
D) Weight
6. Which of these typically has a low pitch?
A) A baby crying
B) A whistle
C) Thunder
D) A bird chirping
7. How does a guitar create sound?
A) By heating the strings
B) When the guitar strings vibrate
C) By changing the color of the wood
D) Through static electricity
8. In a sound wave, particles move back and forth in:
A) The same direction as the wave
B) The opposite direction only
C) Circles
D) Random zig-zags
9. A region where particles are pushed together in a sound wave is called:
A) Rarefaction
B) Compression
C) Vacuum
D) Reflection
10. A region where particles are spread apart is called:
A) Compression
B) Reflection
C) Rarefaction
D) Echo
11. Why can't sound travel through a vacuum (like space)?
A) It is too cold
B) There are no particles to vibrate
C) There is no light
D) Space is too large
12. Sound travels fastest through:
A) Air
B) Water
C) Solids (like steel)
D) A vacuum
13. Why does sound travel faster in solids than in gases?
A) Solids are heavier
B) Particles in solids are packed closely together
C) Solids have more energy
D) Gases are too transparent
14. The speed of sound in air is approximately:
A) 340 m/s
B) 1500 m/s
C) 5000 m/s
D) 300,000 m/s
15. What is an echo?
A) A new sound
) A reflection of a sound wave
C) A sound that never stops
D) The absorption of sound
16. What kind of surface is best for creating an echo?
A) Soft and carpeted
B) Large and hard
C) Small and fuzzy
D) Curvy and soft
17. Which of the following is an example of sound reflection?
A) Hearing someone in the next room
B) An echo in a large hall
C) Sound becoming muffled by a curtain
D) A guitar string snapping
18. To hear an echo clearly, the reflecting surface must be:
A) Very close
B) At a distance
C) Painted black
D) Transparent
19. Soft materials like carpets and curtains are used to:
A) Create echoes
B) Absorb sound
C) Increase loudness
D) Speed up sound
20. What device uses sound echoes to find how deep water is?
A) Radar
B) Sonar
C) Telescope
D) Microscope
21. In a telephone, a microphone changes sound into:
A) Light
B) An electrical signal
C) Mechanical energy
D) Heat
22. A loudspeaker's job is to change:
A) Sound to electricity
B) Electricity to light
C) Electrical signals to sound
D) Vibrations to electricity
23. An amplifier makes sound louder by:
A) Increasing the frequency
B) Increasing the amplitude of the sound wave
C) Decreasing the vibration
D) Changing the pitch
24. In a traditional telephone, the message travels through wires as:
A) Sound waves
B) Air pulses
C) Electrical signals
D) Radio waves
25. Pitch is related to how ______ a sound is.
A) Loud or soft
B) High or low
C) Fast or slow
D) Bright or dark
26. Which state of matter transmits sound the slowest?
A) Solids
B) Liquids
C) Gases
D) Plasma
27. If you are 340 meters away from a wall and you shout, how long until you hear the echo?
A) 1 second
B) 2 seconds
C) 0.5 seconds
D) 4 seconds
28. Animals like bats use what to navigate?
A) Light reflection
B) Echoes (Echolocation)
C) Heat sensing
D) Magnetic fields
29. The amplitude of a sound wave determines its:
A) Pitch
B) Loudness
C) Speed
D) Direction
30. In a "string and cup" phone, sound travels through the:
A) Air inside the cups
B) String
C) Fingers of the person holding it
D) Paper clips
31. Why must the string be tight in a cup phone?
A) So it doesn't break
B) To allow vibrations to travel along it
C) To make the cups look better
D) To change the pitch
32. What happens to sound in a room full of soft furniture?
A) It echoes more
B) It gets louder
C) It is absorbed and sounds muffled
D) It travels faster
33. Sailors use Sonar for:
A) Talking to fish
B) Measuring water depth
C) Finding sunlight
D) Heating the water
34. A baby's cry is an example of:
A) Low pitch
B) High pitch
C) No vibration
D) Vacuum sound
35. Which part of a sound system "boosts" the signal?
A) Microphone
B) Loudspeaker
C) Amplifier
D) CD Player
36. Sound waves are a type of:
A) Energy
B) Matter
C) Chemical
D) Vacuum
37. If a ruler is held over a desk and flicked, what produces the sound?
A) The desk
B) The air only
C) The vibrating ruler
D) The person's hand
38. Which of these is NOT required for sound to travel?
A) A source of vibration
B) A medium (particles)
C) A vacuum
D) A listener or receiver
39. The distance sound travels in 2 seconds through air is roughly:
A) 340m
B) 680m
C) 170m
D) 1000m
40. When sound reflects off a surface, it:
A) Disappears
B) Bounces back
C) Changes into light
D) Stops vibrating
Part 2: Fill in the Blanks (20 Questions)
1. Sound is produced by objects that ________.
2. The ________ of a sound refers to how high or low it is.
3. Sound travels as a series of ________ and rarefactions.
4. A ________ is a space where there are no particles.
5. Sound cannot travel through a vacuum because there are no ________ to transmit the
vibration.
6. The ________ of a sound wave determines how loud the sound is.
7. An ________ is a reflected sound.
8. Hard surfaces ________ sound, while soft surfaces absorb it.
9. In a telephone, the ________ converts sound into an electrical signal.
10. The ________ in a sound system increases the amplitude of the signal.
11. Sound travels faster in ________ than in liquids.
12. ________ is a technology used by ships to map the ocean floor.
13. The ________ changes an electrical signal back into sound.
14. When you speak, your ________ vibrate.
15. A high-pitched sound has ________ vibrations per second than a low-pitched sound.
16. To make a sound louder, you need to apply more ________ to the vibrating object.
17. Sound travels at approximately ________ meters per second in air.
18. In the cup and string experiment, the ________ acts as the medium for sound.
19. We hear sound when vibrating air particles hit our ________.
20. Large, empty rooms often have a lot of ________ because there is nothing to absorb the
sound.
Part 3: Higher-Order Thinking (HOT) Essay Questions
1. Analytical Thinking: Explain the step-by-step energy transformation that occurs from the
moment a person speaks into a telephone until the listener hears the sound on the other end.
2. Evaluation: Why is it impossible for a massive explosion in deep space to be heard by a nearby
astronaut? Use the particle model of matter to justify your answer.
3. Application/Design: If you were an architect designing a movie theater, how would you use
your knowledge of sound reflection and absorption to ensure the best experience for the
audience?
4. Predictive Logic: Compare the speed of sound in a solid metal rod versus the air. If a person
strikes one end of a long metal pipe, why might a listener at the other end hear two distinct
sounds?
5. Synthesis: How does the "string and cup" phone mimic the function of a real
telecommunication system? Identify the "transmitter," the "medium," and the "receiver" in
this simple model.
Answer Key and Explanations
Multiple Choice Answers
1. C (All sound starts with vibration)
2. B (Definition of vibration)
3. C (More force = higher amplitude = louder)
4. B (Vocal cords are the source in humans)
5. C (Pitch and loudness are the two main variables)
6. C (Thunder has low frequency/pitch)
7. B (Vibrating strings create sound waves)
8. A (Longitudinal wave movement)
9. B (Compressions are high-pressure areas)
10. C (Rarefactions are low-pressure areas)
11. B (Sound needs a medium)
12. C (Solids have the most closely packed particles)
13. B (Proximity of particles allows faster transfer)
14. A (Standard speed in air)
15. B (Definition of an echo)
16. B (Hard surfaces bounce sound; soft absorb it)
17. B (Echo is the classic example)
18. B (Distance is needed for the ear to distinguish the return)
19. B (Soft textures "trap" sound energy)
20. B (Sound Navigation and Ranging)
21. B (Transduction from sound to electricity)
22. C (Transduction from electricity to sound)
23. B (Amplitude relates to loudness)
24. C (Electricity travels through wires faster/further than sound)
25. B (Pitch = frequency = high/low)
26. C (Gases have particles furthest apart)
27. B (1s to reach wall, 1s to return)
28. B (Echolocation)
29. B (Higher wave peaks = more volume)
30. B (The string transmits the mechanical vibration)
31. B (Loose strings damp the vibration)
32. C (Absorption)
33. B (Measuring "ping" return time)
34. B (High frequency)
35. C (Amplifier "amplifies" the signal)
36. A (Sound is mechanical energy)
37. C (The vibrating ruler pushes air)
38. C (Sound cannot exist in a vacuum)
39. B (340 x 2 = 680)
40. B (Like a ball off a wall)
Fill in the Blanks Answers
1. Vibrate
2. Pitch
3. Compressions
4. Vacuum
5. Particles (or atoms/molecules)
6. Amplitude
7. Echo
8. Reflect
9. Microphone
10. Amplifier
11. Solids
12. Sonar
13. Loudspeaker
14. Vocal cords
15. More (higher frequency)
16. Force
17. 340
18. String
19. Eardrums
20. Echoes (or reverberation)
Essay Question Explanations (Short Versions)
1. Energy Transformation: Sound energy (voice) -> Mechanical (diaphragm) -> Electrical (wires) ->
Amplified Electrical (amplifier) -> Mechanical (speaker) -> Sound (listener).
2. Space Explosion: Sound is a mechanical wave that requires a medium. Because space is a
vacuum with no particles to compress or expand, the energy cannot travel.
3. Theater Design: Use soft, porous materials (carpets, foam) on back walls to prevent echoes,
but hard surfaces near the screen to project sound toward the audience.
4. Two Sounds: Sound travels faster in solids than in air. The listener hears the vibration through
the metal pipe first, followed by the vibration through the air.
5. Cup Phone Model: The cup you speak into is the transmitter (microphone), the string is the
medium (wires), and the cup you listen to is the receiver (loudspeaker).