Waves Physical Science

This is a wave pattern diagram for two transverse waves.

How do the waves compare?

• Both waves have the same frequency.
• Both waves have the same wavelength.
• Wave 1 has a longer wavelength than Wave 2.
• Wave 1 has a higher frequency than Wave 2.

This chart compares three different types of waves.
How do the wave characteristics compare for these waves?

• Sound waves and P-waves are longitudinal waves, while light waves are transverse waves.
• Light waves and P-waves are transverse waves, while sound waves are longitudinal waves.
• Sound waves, P-waves, and light waves are all longitudinal waves.
• Light waves, P-waves, and sound waves are all transverse waves.

Why does sound travel faster through a solid object than in the air?

• The atoms in the solid object are farther apart than the atoms in the air.
• The atoms in the solid object are closer together than the atoms in the air.
• The atoms are smaller in the solid object than the atoms in the air.
  
• The atoms are larger in the solid object than the atoms in the air.
  

How does sound usually travel?

• An object vibrates, and those vibrations travel through the air in one direction as transverse waves.
  
• An object vibrates, and those vibrations carry air in one direction as longitudinal waves.
  
• An object vibrates, and those vibrations carry air in all directions as transverse waves.
  
• An object vibrates, and those vibrations travel through the air in all directions as longitudinal waves.
  

How are electromagnetic waves different from other waves?

• They have very short wavelengths.
  
• They transmit energy instead of matter.
  
• They can travel through a vacuum and through matter.
  
• They can change direction by reflection when they strike an object.
  They can change direction by reflection when they strike an object.
  

This illustration shows three different waves traveling through the same medium. 

• The waves travel at different speeds.
  
• The waves have different wavelengths.
  
• The waves carry different amounts of energy.
  
• The waves are a different distance from the source.
  

A band has many different musical instruments. Each instrument is played differently.
In which way are all musical instruments alike?

• They all use a vibration to make sound waves.
  
• They all send sound waves in only one direction.
  
• They all make sound waves with the same amplitude.
  
• They all make sound waves when two objects strike one another.
  

Which statement correctly describes how a sound wave travels through air?

• The wave carries molecules of air away from the source of the sound.
  
• The wave carries energy that causes molecules to move back and forth.
  
• The wave carries a molecule in one direction until it collides with another molecule.
  
• The wave moves through the air and gains energy from the moving molecules that it touches.
  

Look at the illustration of a wave.

• Point W is a trough; Point Y is a crest.
  
• Point Y is a trough; Point W is a crest.
  
• Point Y is a trough; Point X is a crest.
  
• Point W is a trough; Point Z is a crest.
  

What causes a seismic wave?

• sudden breaking of rock as it releases potential energy
  
• very loud sound waves from the atmosphere entering the ground
  
• growing pressure on rocks from the weight of material above them
  
• energy transferred into Earth from the Sun as electromagnetic waves