Earthquake Waves Review

Earthquake Waves Review

to help you succeed on next week's quiz

Three Wave Characteristics

Speed, Frequency, and Wavelength are related to one another.

Speed = Frequency X Wavelength

Frequency = Speed / Wavelength

Wavelength = Speed / Frequency

Multiple Choice

What is a wave's speed if it has a frequency of 10 hertz and a wavelength of 2 meters?

• 20 meters per second

• 5 meters per second

• .2 meters per second

• The speed of light

Multiple Choice

What is a wave's frequency if it has a speed of 15 m/s and a wavelength of 3 meters?

• .2 Hertz

• 45 Hertz

• 5 Hertz

• This hurts

Multiple Choice

What is a wave's length if it has a speed of 20 m/s and a frequency of 2 hz?

• 40 meters

• 10 meters

• .01 meters

Wave Movement

Longitudinal waves

and Transverse waves

Wave Movement

Seismic (Earthquake) waves travelling though the earth are called body waves.

There are two types of body waves.

P-waves are Longitudinal waves

S -waves are Transverse waves

Multiple Choice

What type of wave is being modeled by the Slinky?

• P-wave, longitudinal body wave

• S-wave, transverse body wave

Multiple Choice

What type of wave is being modeled by the Slinky?

• P-wave, longitudinal body wave

• S-wave, transverse body wave

Layers of the Earth

By analyzing how P- and S-waves travel through the Earth, we've been able to conclude several things about the the composition of the inner-earth.

Multiple Choice

Which are the P-waves?

(click on the image)

• Green

• Purple

• Neither Green or Purple

Multiple Choice

If the outer-layer was not as thick, how would this affect the shadow zone?

(click on the image)

• The shadow zone would be larger than 35 degrees.

• The shadow zone would remain 35 degrees.

• The shadow zone would be smaller than 35 degrees.

Wave Movement

Seismic (Earthquake) waves travelling across the earth's surface are called surface waves.

Two types of surface waves:

Rayleigh - travel up and down while rolling

Love - travel side to side horizontally

Fill in the Blanks

waves are surface waves, that move up and down, while rolling.

Fill in the Blanks

waves are surface waves, that move side to side.

Locating an Earthquake

is performed when three different seismograph stations can each determine how far the earthquake originated from them.

Locating an Earthquake

A station has a seismograph that records the ground movement.

First a P-wave will move the ground.

Then a S-wave will follow.

The time difference (interval) can be translated into a distance which the earthquake occurred.

Multiple Choice

Which city was closest to the earthquake registered on the seismographs? (click on image to make it big)

• Osaka

• Tokyo

• Hiroshima

_{Earthquake Magnitude}

When a seismograph station determines how far away the earthquake was and measures the amplitude of the S-waves that reach their surface, it can then determine the earthquake's magnitude.

This can be verified by multiple stations.

Fill in the Blanks

What is the magnitude of an earthquake that was found to be 160 km from a seismic station, causing the seismograph to move 6.0 mm in amplitude. (click on image)

Earthquakes and Resonance

All buildings have a natural period, or resonance, which is the number of seconds it takes for the building to naturally vibrate back and forth. ... If the period of ground motion matches the natural resonance of a building, it will undergo the largest oscillations possible and suffer the greatest damage.

Multiple Select

Place a check next to each true statement

• A shorter building takes less time to sway back and forth

• A shorter building will be more affected by earthquake waves with shorter wavelengths (via a higher frequency)

• A taller building takes more time to sway back and forth.

• A taller building will be affected more by earthquake waves with longer wavelengths (via a lower frequency)