Unit Test 4: Waves

The bending of light rays as they enter a medium is called __________.

• reflection
• refraction
• transmission
• diffraction

People often wear sunglasses in polar regions because most of the sunlight that strikes a snow-covered surface is ____________.

• absorbed
• reflected
• refracted
• transmitted

During a thunderstorm, an observer can see lightning before hearing its thunder. Why do we see lightning before we hear thunder?

• Sound travels slower than light.
• Sound needs a medium to travel through.
• Sound cannot reflect off surfaces as easily as light.
• Sound is not processed by the brain as fast as light.

Light waves strike a surface. The energy from the light is captured and stored by the surface without being reflected or transmitted. What happened to the energy from the light?

• It was absorbed by the surface.
• It was scattered by the surface.
• It was bent and changed direction.
• It was released into the air.

Bats use a process called echolocation to navigate and find prey in the dark. A bat transmits high-frequency sound waves. Some of these waves are absorbed, but other waves bounce off of an object and travel back to the bat. Other than absorption, which two wave behaviors are properties of echolocation?

• transmission and reflection
• absorption and refraction
• refraction and reflection
• transmission and absorption

Light waves are emitted by the Sun. Some of these light waves hit a dark green bottle sitting on a table. Look at the illustration below. What happens to the light waves as they enter the glass bottle and ultimately exit it on the other side.?

• the speed decreases
• the speed increases
• the speed stays same
• the speed decrease then increases

The arrows in the diagrams below represent the path of light as it strikes four different objects. Which diagram best represents the reflection of light?

• 
• 
• 
• 

An oscilloscope is an instrument that can be used to display the properties of waves. Melanie studies four pictures of waves from an oscilloscope. Which picture shows the wave’s highest frequency?

• wave I
• wave II
• wave III
• wave IV

The picture below shows a bird landing at a bird feeder outside a window. The image of this bird in the window is the result of light being…

• absorbed
• reflected
• refracted
• transmitted

Which of the following types of waves need a medium to travel through?

• sound and light
• mechanical and sound
• mechanical and light
• sound and electromagnetic