Waves | AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy Physics, Higher tier (8464)
Waves
- 97 questions
- 4 subtopics
- Physics Paper 2
- Physics Paper 2
Waves is examined in Physics Paper 2.
It covers transverse and longitudinal waves, and the wave equation, wave properties, and refraction at a boundary, types and uses of electromagnetic waves and radio waves, and the hazards of ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays.
Sample questions from Waves
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Transverse and longitudinal waves, and the wave equation
What evidence shows that air is not carried across a room by a sound wave from a loudspeaker?
Show the answer
No air is felt moving across the room, because the air particles only vibrate about fixed positions while the wave itself travels. -
Transverse and longitudinal waves, and the wave equation
Describe how the frequency of the waves in a ripple tank can be measured.
Show the answer
Count the number of waves passing a fixed point in 10 s and divide that number by 10. -
Wave properties, and refraction at a boundary
What is the unit of frequency and what does one of these units mean?
Show the answer
The hertz, Hz; a frequency of 1 Hz means one wave passes a point each second. -
Wave properties, and refraction at a boundary
When a ray meets a boundary, from which line are the angle of incidence and the angle of refraction measured?
Show the answer
From the normal, the line drawn at right angles to the boundary where the ray meets it. -
Types and uses of electromagnetic waves
Give an example of energy being transferred by an electromagnetic wave to an absorber.
Show the answer
Radiation from the Sun being absorbed by the ground, which warms up. -
Types and uses of electromagnetic waves
Explain why radio waves are suitable for broadcasting television and radio.
Show the answer
They pass through the atmosphere and many buildings without being strongly absorbed and travel long distances, so one transmitter reaches receivers over a wide area. -
Radio waves, and the hazards of ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays
What kinds of change can result in an electromagnetic wave being generated or absorbed?
Show the answer
Changes in atoms and changes in the nuclei of atoms. -
Radio waves, and the hazards of ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays
A medical scan gives a dose of 0.02 mSv, while a person receives about 2 mSv each year from natural sources. What conclusion can be drawn about the scan?
Show the answer
The scan gives a very small dose compared with the radiation received naturally in a year, so the extra risk from it is very low.
The 4 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Transverse and longitudinal waves, and the wave equation | The two wave types and how their oscillations differ, compressions and rarefactions, why the medium is not carried along, the wave equation v = f λ, and measuring the speed of sound and of ripples. | 29 |
| Wave properties, and refraction at a boundary | Amplitude, wavelength, frequency and period, the equation linking period and frequency, the hertz, wave speed and the wave equation with calculations, what can happen to electromagnetic waves meeting a substance, why waves refract and change direction at a boundary, and comparing the infrared emitted by different surfaces using a cube of hot water. | 21 |
| Types and uses of electromagnetic waves | Electromagnetic waves as transverse waves that transfer energy, the continuous spectrum and a single speed in a vacuum, the order of the groups by wavelength and frequency, the colours of visible light, energy transferred to an absorber, the uses of radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays, and why some suit their uses. | 28 |
| Radio waves, and the hazards of ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays | How oscillations in a circuit produce radio waves and induce a current in a receiver, where gamma rays originate, what radiation dose measures, and the harm ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays do to tissue. | 19 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy Physics, Higher tier Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,093 questions with their answers.