(iii) Loud sounds cause large oscillations in air particles which can make things

Addu High School DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

vibrate.
Hithadhoo/Addu PHYSICS
(iv) Wave power can be used to generate electricity .
Since waves carry energy away ,the sources of the wave loses energy.
Waves
Wave terminology:
Objective:

 understand and use the terms amplitude, frequency, period, speed and
wavelength
 identify the different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and describe
some of their applications
 use the wave equation v = fλ
 recall that a sound wave is a longitudinal wave which can be described in
terms of the displacement of molecules
 use graphs to represent transverse and longitudinal waves, including standing
(stationary) waves
 recognise and use the expression for refractive index 1μ2 = sin i/sin r = v1/v2,
determine refractive index for a material in the laboratory, and predict  Displacement(x),metres-how far a point on the wave has moved from its
whether total internal reflection will occur at an interface using critical angle.
 investigate and explain how to measure refractive index. undisturbed position.
 Amplitude(A),metres-the maximum displacement of particle from its midpoint

Introduction to Waves of oscillation.

 Wavelength(λ),metres-the length of one whole wave cycle,eg. From crest to
A wave is some sort of disturbance travelling through space.
crest or trough to trough.
A wave transfers energy away from its source.
 Period(T),seconds-the time taken to complete one whole cycle or wave
A progressive (moving) wave carries energy from one place to another without
 Frequency(f),Hertz-the number of cycles per second.
transferring any material.This transfer of energy is in the same direction as the
 Phase-a measurement of the position of a certain point along the wave cycle.
wave is travelling.Here are some ways you can tell waves carry energy.
 Phas difference-the amount of one waves lags behind another.
(i) Electromagnetic waves cause things to heat up.
(ii) X-rays and gamma rays knock out electrons out of their orbits,causing
ionisation

Addu high school/Dept of Science/Physics/unit 1/work,energy and power/ notes 1

 produced by vibrating one end of the spring horizontally. Sound wave is a
Classifying Waves: longitudinal wave.

Waves can be classified as mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves depending

on whether it requires a medium for the waves to travel (propagate) in.
Mechanical waves require a medium to propagate. For example, sound wave is
mechanical wave and it can propagate in air, water or other media. It can’t
propagate in vacuum.
Electromagnetic waves require no medium to propagate. This means that they can In longitudinal waves the back and forth motion of air molecules leads to an
travel in vacuum. Light is an example of electromagnetic wave. alternate regions of high and low pressure, called compressions and rarefactions
Another way to classify waves is according to the relationship between the respectively.The oscillations of the particles can be observed by placing a lighted
direction of oscillation and the direction of propagation. candle close to a large loudspeaker that is emitting a low frequency sound.
Longitudinal and Transverse Waves:
If the direction of oscillation is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the
waves, they are called transverse waves. Figure 3.1.2(a) shows a transverse wave
propagating along horizontal direction on a string. The wave may be produced by
vibrating one end of a string vertically. All electromagnetic waves are transverse
waves. Water waves are also transverse waves.

If a stone is thrown into a pond , a series of circular ripples can be seen moving
outwards from the point where the stone entered the water.A duck floating on the
water will ‘bob’ up and down in the same place as the water wave passes alon the
pond surface.This demonstrates the transverse wave motion of the water particles.

If the direction of oscillation is parallel to the direction of propagation of the

waves, they are called longitudinal waves. Figure 3.1.2(b) shows a longitudinal Other examples are waves in stretched strings or wires and the variation of electric
wave propagating along horizontal direction on a spring. This wave may be and magnetic fields in electromagnetic radiation.

Addu high school/Dept of Science/Physics/unit 1/work,energy and power/ notes 2

Frequency is the inverse of period

1 1
Frequency =𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 f= 𝑇 Its unit is Hertz(Hz)

Wave equation:
Speed of wave= frequency x wavelength

V= f λ
Using graphs to describe waves
Displacement-distance graph:
Fig 3.7.1 Electromagnetic spectrum
Examples of applications of each type of electromagnetic waves are given as
below.
􀂇 Radio waves: TV and radio transmissions
􀂇 Mirowaves: mobile phone communications via satellite. Microwave oven.
􀂇 Infrared (IR): alarm system. Temperature detector. Fiber optical
communications.
Fig. is a graph that shows the waveform on the string at a certain time. It’s like a 􀂇 Visible light: human eyes.
picture of the string. In this graph, the horizontal axis represents the distance from 􀂇 Ultraviolet(UV): fluorescence
the source of the wave, the vertical axis represents the displacement of each point 􀂇 X-ray: imaging objects inside a suitcase or a human body
of the string at this time. This graph is called a displacement-distance graph. You 􀂇Gamma rays: used in hospitals to sterilise equipments.
can know the wavelength and amplitude from such a graph. We can see that visible light occupies only a very small portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum. Fig 3.7.2 is a magnified visible spectrum from Fig
ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES:
3.7.1. Wavelengths for each colour are added.
Electromagnetic waves are transverse waves. They do not need a medium to
propagate. Excerpt light, there are many other electromagnetic waves with
different frequencies. The large family of all electromagnetic waves forms the
electromagnetic spectrum. It includes radio waves, microwave, infrared (IR),
visible light, ultraviolet (UV), X-ray and Gamma-ray.

Addu high school/Dept of Science/Physics/unit 1/work,energy and power/ notes 3

 Waves that have an infinite length are called continuous waves. Waves that have a
beginning and end are called wave trains. Waves with a very short length(less
than a couple of wavelengths) are called pulses. Fig 3.1.3 illustrates these
concepts.
Actually, according to the definition of continuous wave, it has infinite length,
which is not possible in reality. It is only a physics model. Usually, people regard
long wave trains as continuous waves.

Fig 3.1.3 Continuous wave, Wave train, and pulse

Fig 3.1.2 and Fig 3.1.3 ‘view’ the waves sideway. If we look from above, the
pictures would look like those shown in Fig 3.1.4.

Fig 3.1.4 Plane and circular water waves in a pond viewed from above
Addu high school/Dept of Science/Physics/unit 1/work,energy and power/ notes 4
Using lines or circles to represent crests, we can draw diagrams as shown in Fig The direction of the propagation of the refracted wave is governed by the law of
3.1.5 to describe waves. In such a diagram, the lines (or circles) representing crests refraction (also called Snell’s Law).
are referred to as wavefronts and the rays tell the direction of propagation of the
The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the angle of refraction is given by Snell’s
waves.
Law.

Fig 3.1.5 Wavefronts and rays to represent waves In symbol form, Snell’s Law is

Refraction:
Law of refraction

As shown in Fig 3.3.1, when a wave travels to the boundary of two mediums, part
of the wave will go into the second medium and its direction of propagation will
change. This is called refraction and the wave that gets into the second medium is
called the refracted wave.

Refractive index is a quantity that measures the ability of a medium to deflect the
direction of propagation of light when it travels from vacuum to the medium.
The value of refractive index is related with the density of the medium. Denser
medium has higher refractive index. Vacuum has a refractive index of 1.

Fig 3.3.1 Refraction of wave

Addu high school/Dept of Science/Physics/unit 1/work,energy and power/ notes 5
The refractive index of air is 1.003. In most calculations, we regard the refractive
index of air as 1, unless otherwise indicated. The refractive indexes of water and
glass are 1.33 and 1.5 respectively.
When light travels from one medium to another, its frequency doesn’t change, but
its speed and wavelength change. The speed of light in vacuum is 3.0x108ms-1. In
air, the speed of light is only slight slower than the speed in vacuum. So we usually Fig 3.3.3 Total internal reflection
take the speed of light in air as 3.0x108ms-1as well. In other media, its speed is There are two conditions for total internal reflection to happen.
much slower. 1. Light travels from a denser medium to a less dense medium ( n1> n2 ).
Total Internal reflection: 2. The incident angle is larger than the critical angle.

If a light ray passes from a denser to a less dense material and the incident angle is
larger than a certain value called critical angle, refracted ray disappears and the
entire incident light is reflected. This is called total internal reflection. The value
of the critical angle C is decided by the equation

Critical angle:
The angle of incidence in the denser medium for which angle of refraction is 900
We can see that critical angle is only decided by the relative refractive index
Is known as critical angle.
between the two media. For example, the critical angle of glass-air interface is 42o.
Relationship between critical angle and refractive index:
This means that if light travels from glass to air and its angle of incidence is larger
than 42o, then all the light will be reflected back and no light will refract into air.

If second medium is air, then n2 is apprxomately 1, so

𝟏
Sin C=
𝐧𝟏

Addu high school/Dept of Science/Physics/unit 1/work,energy and power/ notes 6

Addu high school/Dept of Science/Physics/unit 1/work,energy and power/ notes 7