There are many different types of waves - Edexcel - GCSE Physics Combined Science - Question 1 - 2016 - Paper 1
Question 1
There are many different types of waves.
(a) Waves on the surface of water are transverse waves.
Sound waves are longitudinal waves.
Describe the difference between... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:There are many different types of waves - Edexcel - GCSE Physics Combined Science - Question 1 - 2016 - Paper 1
Step 1
Describe the difference between transverse waves and longitudinal waves.
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Answer
Transverse waves are characterized by oscillations that occur perpendicular to the direction of wave propagation. For example, in water waves, the surface moves up and down while the wave travels horizontally. On the other hand, longitudinal waves feature oscillations in the same direction as wave movement. An example of this is sound waves, where air particles compress and expand in the same direction as the wave travels.
Step 2
Take time T for waves to pass a fixed point.
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Answer
To find the frequency of the waves, we can use the relationship:
extFrequency=Time takenNumber of waves
Thus, by timing how long it takes for a specific number of waves to pass a fixed point, we can calculate the frequency, which is the number of complete cycles per second.
