Electromagnetic and Mechanical Waves

What is amplitude?

• The distance from the center line ( or the still position) of a waveto the top of a crest or to the bottom of a trough.

• The number of waves passing a point in a certain time.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

Imagine you're at the beach, observing waves. How do the waves you see (mechanical) compare with the sunlight reaching you (electromagnetic)?

• Mechanical waves can only travel through a vacuum, but electromagnetic waves can travel through a solid, liquid, or gas.

• Mechanical waves can travel through a solid, liquid, or gas, but electromagnetic waves can only travel through a gas.

• Mechanical waves can only travel through a solid, liquid, or gas, but electromagnetic waves can travel through a vacuum.

• Mechanical waves can travel through a solid, liquid, or gas, but electromagnetic waves can only travel through a solid.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

While studying the nature of waves during a physics class, a student wonders how to distinguish between electromagnetic and mechanical waves. Which question should the student ask to determine the type of wave?

• Does it require a medium in order to travel?

• Can it pass through air and water?

• Does it have a measurable speed?

• Does it have a measurable frequency?

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS4-1

A student is measuring the distance between the crest and the rest position of both a mechanical wave in a spring and an electromagnetic wave emitted by a radio antenna. Which question is the student trying to answer?

• What is the speed of the waves?

• What is the amplitude of the waves?

• What is the wavelength of the waves?

• What is the frequency of the waves?

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

During a sunny day at the beach, you observe waves coming towards the shore. Which distance represents the wavelength of these waves?

• W

• X

• Y

• Z

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

At a rock concert, which type of wave allows the crowd to see the vibrations of the guitar strings as they're played, with the wave motion perpendicular to the direction of the disturbance?

• surface

• mechanical

• transverse

• longitudinal

What happens when a mechanical wave travels through the ocean?

• Waves are transferred

• Energy is transferred

• Mass is transferred

• Particles are transferred

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

During a concert, the sound from the speakers is transferred to the audience through _________.

• vibrations

• stacking objects

• an ordered sequence

• colors

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-1

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

In a crowded concert, the way sound travels from the stage to the audience is most similar to which type of wave motion?

• A wave where particles move in a circular motion.

• A wave where particles move parallel to the direction of the wave.

• A wave where particles move perpendicular to the direction of the wave.

• A wave where particles move in the opposite direction of the wave.

When observing waves at the beach, unlike the up and down motion of a cork floating on the water (a longitudinal wave), the disturbance in a wave hitting the shore (a transverse wave) is

• perpendicular to the direction the wave travels.

• in a circular motion.

• parallel to the direction the wave travels.

• in the opposite direction of the wave's travel.