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Physics - Sound Waves
Count the seconds between a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder and divide by 3 to get its distance in km.

Physics - Sound Waves

This Physics quiz is called 'Physics - Sound Waves' and it has been written by teachers to help you if you are studying the subject at senior high school. Playing educational quizzes is one of the most efficienct ways to learn if you are in the 11th or 12th grade - aged 16 to 18.

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All waves are one of two different types - transverse or longitudinal. When something vibrates, it creates a sound wave. Sound waves are longitudinal waves and the energy they carry causes vibrations in a medium, so they are mechanical waves. Like all mechanical waves, sound waves can only travel in places where there are particles that are sufficienty close to make the next-door particles vibrate. This limits sound to being heard only in solids, liquids and gasses. Science fiction films nearly always show sounds in space. This is technically wrong but let's face it, without the sounds these films would be dull and boring!

The pitch describes how high or low the wave sounds. This depends on how many times it vibrates every second - its frequency. Sounds that are pitched higher than about 20,000 Hz are too high for most human ears to detect, but some animals have much more sensitive hearing than humans and can hear these sound waves. A device that is used by walkers and cyclists to keep aggressive dogs away from themselves uses sound above 20,000 Hz - that irritates the dog and it moves away to a distance where the sound is no longer annoying. Sound below about 20 Hz is too low for most people to hear but is used by whales to communicate with one another. These low pitched sound waves can travel for hundreds of kilometers through the oceans.

The volume of a sound depends on the amplitude of the vibrations. A loud sound has a large amplitude and vise versa. Large amplitude loud sounds carry more energy than small amplitude quiet sounds. When you listen to loud music, for example at a party or disco, or if you are using noisy machinery, the loud sounds carry enough energy to damage your ears. It is generally only a problem to people regularly exposed to these levels of noise as your ears have a defense mechanism. When exposed to loud sounds, muscles tighten the eardrum so that it vibrates less. It takes a while for the muscles to relax after the loud sound which is why your hearing seems a bit 'muffled' for a while.

1.
Sound of a short wavelength makes what kind of noise?
High pitch
Low pitch
High volume
Low volume
A short wavelength means it is vibrating very quickly (has a high frequency)
2.
A student looked up the speed of sound for several different media and noticed a pattern - it was fastest in solids and slowest in gasses. Which of the following statements is the correct reason for this?
The particles of solids are denser than gasses
The particles of solids are less dense than gasses
The particles of solids are further apart than in gasses
The particles of solids are closer together than in gasses
Sound waves travel as vibrations so if the particles are closer and fixed in place, they can pass on the vibrations faster. Gasses have a slower speed of sound as their particles are much further apart
3.
Which of the following pieces of equipment is not required to see a sound wave?
Cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO)
Ripple tank
Microphone
Loudspeaker
You would also need a signal generator and amplifier to make the loudspeaker make a sound and to control the frequency of sound produced
4.
Sound is a longitudinal wave. This means that the vibrations travel in which direction?
At 90 degrees to the direction of the wave
At 45 degrees to the wave
In the same direction as the wave
In the opposite direction to the wave
The vibrations are in fact backwards and forwards in time with the vibration causing the sound
5.
Which of the following statements is true of an echo?
An echo is someone in the distance repeating what you say
An echo is only heard by the person who created it
An echo is as loud as the original sound
An echo is a sound wave that has been reflected
Hard, flat, smooth surfaces create the best echoes
6.
Using an oscilloscope, if you heard two waves of identical pitch but one was louder than the other, what would you see?
The crests of the louder wave would be closer together
The crests of the louder wave would be taller
The crests of the louder wave would be further apart
The crests of the louder wave would be shorter
The CRO displays sound waves as transverse waveforms. Louder waves carry more energy and therefore the crests will be taller than the quieter sound
7.
If you count the seconds between a flash of lightning and the rumble of thunder, then divide the time by three, you get the approximate distance in kilometers to the lightning. Why do you divide by three?
Sound travels at 330 m/s
Sound travels three times faster than light
Sound travels at 3,000 m/s
Light travels three times faster than sound
In three seconds sound will travel 990 meters, which is about a kilometer so dividing the total number of seconds by three gives you the approximate distance the sound will have traveled since it was made. On the surface of the Earth, you can regard light as traveling instantaneously (it could go right round the Earth's equator 7 times in a second)
8.
The Apollo mission astronauts on the surface of the Moon needed radios to talk to each other, even when they were standing beside one another. Why?
Spacesuit material is too thick to hear through
There is no atmosphere on the Moon
The Moon is too noisy to allow a normal conversation
The Moon has less gravity than Earth
Sound waves require particles to travel from one place to another
9.
Sound waves diffract. What does this mean?
As they pass an object or go through a gap that is approximately the same size or less than their wavelength, they spread out
As they pass an object or go through a gap that is considerably smaller than their wavelength, they spread out
As they pass an object or go through a gap that is much bigger than their wavelength, they spread out
As they pass an object or go through a gap that is approximately the same size as their wavelength, they come together and get louder
Diffraction happens to all waves - light, sound, infrared, gamma etc...
10.
As a sound wave passes, the particles of the medium are alternately compressed and uncompressed. Areas where the particles are not compressed are called what?
Decompressions
Rarefactions
Satisfactions
Benefactions
The areas where the particles are compressed by the vibrations of the wave are unsurprisingly called compressions!
Author:  Kev Woodward

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