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Chapter 1 Practice Paper: General Wave Properties — question paper

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QQ/S4CPH/CH1

Secondary 4 · Combined Science (Physics) (G2 / G3)

Chapter 1 Practice Paper

General Wave Properties

Duration: 40 minutes
Total: 30 marks
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Class:
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READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST

  • Answer all questions.
  • Section A: choose the one correct answer for each multiple-choice question.
  • Section B: answer in the spaces provided; show all necessary working.
  • Give numerical answers to 3 significant figures where appropriate, with units.
  • The acceleration of free fall near the Earth is 10 m/s².
  • The speed of sound in air is 340 m/s unless stated otherwise.
  • The use of a calculator is permitted.

Original practice material written for the MOE Combined Science (Physics) syllabus. It is not an official MOE or school examination paper. Chapter 1 (wave motion and wavefronts; speed, frequency, wavelength, period, amplitude; v = fλ; transverse vs longitudinal; sound needs a medium, compressions and rarefactions; loudness, pitch, echoes).

For Examiner’s Use
Section A/ 10
Section B/ 20
Total/ 30

Section A: Multiple-choice questions[10 marks]

Choose the one correct answer for each question. Speed of sound in air = 340 m/s.

  1. 1

    A wave transfers

    1. Amatter only
    2. Benergy without transferring matter
    3. Cboth matter and energy together
    4. Dneither matter nor energy
    ( )
  2. 2

    Sound from a guitar string makes the air vibrate 20 times each second. Calculate the period of one vibration.

    1. A20 s
    2. B10 s
    3. C2.0 s
    4. D0.05 s
    ( )
  3. 3

    Sound waves cannot pass through which of these?

    1. Awater
    2. Bsteel
    3. Cair
    4. Da vacuum
    ( )
  4. 4

    A wave with frequency 5.0 Hz travels with wavelength 0.30 m. Calculate the wave speed.

    1. A0.06 m/s
    2. B5.3 m/s
    3. C1.5 m/s
    4. D15 m/s
    ( )
  5. 5

    One note has a higher pitch than another. The higher-pitched note has greater

    1. Aamplitude
    2. Bfrequency
    3. Cloudness
    4. Dwavelength
    ( )

Section B: Structured questions[20 marks]

Answer all questions in the spaces provided. Show all necessary working.

  1. 1

    A long rope is tied to a wall. A student flicks one end steadily up and down, sending waves along the rope.

    1. (a)

      Define the amplitude of the wave on the rope.

      [2]
    2. (b)

      Define the wavelength of the wave on the rope.

      [2]
    3. (c)

      State what travels along the rope, and what does not.

      [2]
  2. 2

    A student stands 200 m from a large cliff and claps. An electronic timer records 1.2 s between the clap and its echo. The speed of sound in air is 340 m/s.

    1. (a)

      Calculate the total distance travelled by the sound in 1.2 s.

      distance =m[2]
    2. (b)

      Explain why the distance to the cliff is half of this value, and state it.

      distance =m[2]
    3. (c)

      The student now claps 10 times in quick succession and times 10 echo intervals instead of one. State one advantage of timing many intervals.

      [3]
  3. 3

    A displacement–time graph for a wave travelling along a long stretched spring shows a smooth wave of amplitude 3.0 cm, with exactly 4 complete cycles drawn in 0.80 s. The wave has wavelength 0.68 m.

    1. (a)

      State the amplitude.

      amplitude =cm[2]
    2. (b)

      Determine the period and the frequency of the wave.

      T =s[3]
    3. (c)

      Calculate the speed of the wave.

      speed =m/s[2]

— End of paper —