Wave Quiz--HS

The picture below shows a sound speaker in a cabinet with its front panel removed. When music plays through the speaker, the speaker rapidly moves back and forth in the cabinet. Which conclusion is best supported by this observation?

• Sound travels only in air.
• Sound is a transverse wave.
• Sound is a longitudinal wave.
• Sound travels at the speed of light.

Tags

GSE.SPS9.b

The diagram to the right shows a wave trace. Distance Z is a measure of

• Amplitude
• Frequency
• Wavelength
• Crest

Tags

GSE.SPS9.b

Which of the following describes how a mechanical wave is different from an electromagnetic wave?

• Mechanical waves require a medium; electromagnetic waves don't.
• Mechanical waves transmit energy; electromagnetic waves transmit matter.
• Electromagnetic waves require a medium; mechanical waves don't.
• Electromagnetic waves transmit energy; mechanical waves transmit matter.

Tags

GSE.SPS9.b

A wave can make a leaf bob up and down on the water, but it cannot move the leaf toward the shore. This is because waves only transfer

• Matter
• Energy
• Medium
• Forces

Tags

GSE.SPS9.a

You and your father inspect an empty house with the hopes of buying it. You walk through the rooms talking to one another, and you notice that your voices and footsteps are echoing in the big, empty house. What causes the echo?

• sound waves moving slowly through air
• sound waves refracting around corners in the empty rooms
• sound waves reflecting off the walls of the empty rooms
• sound waves interfering with one another in the empty rooms

Tags

GSE.SPS9.c

The speed of a sound wave depends on

• its source.
• the force of its compressions.
• the number of waves per second.
• the medium through which it travels.

Tags

GSE.SPS9.d

Imagine a ringing bell set inside a sealed glass jar. Once all the air is removed and a vacuum is created, the ringing sound is no longer heard. Explain why this happens.

• The glass prevents any sound from escaping.
• The lack of air in the jar causes the ringing to stop.
• Without air, the sound waves cannot travel to the ear.
• The pressure of the outside air causes the sound to remain within the jar.

Tags

GSE.SPS9.d

In old western movies, cowboys would often put their ear to a train track to listen for an oncoming train. What benefit would this provide over listening to the train in the air?

• The sound will be louder.
• The sound would be undistorted.
• The sound will reach him sooner.
• The sound would be a higher frequency.

Tags

GSE.SPS9.d

The speed of sound waves through two different media, steel and air, was recorded. According to the graph, sound waves travel

• Through steel, but not through the air
• Faster through steel than through air
• Faster through air than through steel
• Through steel and air at similar speeds.

Tags

GSE.SPS9.d

If you are lying on a raft, and you notice that the number of waves that go past the raft increases, you also find that the distance between each crest ___.

• Increases
• Decreases
• Remains the same
• Alternates

Tags

GSE.SPS9.a