Pre Communicates

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Physics
Preliminary Course
Stage 6
The world communicates
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Acknowledgments
This publication is copyright Learning Materials Production, Open Training and Education Network
Distance Education, NSW Department of Education and Training, however it may contain material from
other sources which is not owned by Learning Materials Production. Learning Materials Production
would like to acknowledge the following people and organisations whose material has been used.
Board of Studies Physics Stage 6 Syllabus, amended October 2002. Board of Studies NSW. The
most up-to-date version can be found on the Boards website at
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus200_lista.html
Messel, H. (1963) Science for High School Students The Nuclear Foundation, University of Sydney.
All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain copyright permissions. All claims will be settled in
good faith.
Writer: Richard Morante
Editor: Julie Haeusler
Illustrator: Thomas Brown
Layout: Alide Schimke and Gayle Reddy
Consultants: Colin McKay (Dubbo School of Distance Education)
Mike McPhee (Open Learning Program, OTEN)
Professor Lawrence Cram (University of Sydney)
Copyright in this material is reserved to the Crown in the right of the State of New South Wales.
Reproduction or transmittal in whole, or in part, other than in accordance with provisions of the
Copyright Act, is prohibited without the written authority of Learning Materials Production.
Learning Materials Production, Open Training and Education Network Distance Education,
NSW Department of Education and Training, 1999. Revised September, 13 2006. 51 Wentworth
Rd. Strathfield NSW 2135.
Contents
Module overview........................................................................iii
Indicative time ...................................................................................... v
Resources ............................................................................................ v
Icons ................................................................................................... vii
Glossary .............................................................................................viii
Part 1: Waves ..................................................................... 168
Part 2: Sound waves........................................................... 125
Part 3: Superposition .......................................................... 128
Part 4: Electromagnetic waves ........................................... 134
Part 5: Reflection and refraction ......................................... 161
Part 6: Applications ............................................................ 128
Bibliography............................................................................. 29
Student evaluation of the module
Introduction i
ii Th world communicates
Module overview
There are many ways to look at events and features and the technology
that drives our society. The physicists view is one of the fundamental
views that aims to explain the phenomena around us. Physics is a
science that makes use of mathematics, concepts, models, principles and
ideas to explain events in the world around you.
Through this Preliminary course in Physics you will gain an

understanding of the basis of communication methods, electricity, motion
in vehicles and the place of our Solar System in the universe. All this
will be achieved by using the physicists view of the world.
In the Preliminary modules the Assumed Knowledge of the Science

Stage 4-5 Syllabus will be briefly revised. You may find some of these
sections of work easy as they could cover work that you already know
and understand.
The achievement of the outcomes - knowledge and understanding, skills,

values and attitudes will be assessed by:
you, when comparing your answers to questions with suggested
answers
your teacher, using your send-in exercises at the end of each part of
work.
The best way to help your teacher to help you is by:
attempting each of the questions and activities
returning your send-in exercises regularly and on time.
Remember your teacher is there to help you!
If you have access to a computer and the Internet you may wish to
participate in an online forum for students of Physics. One such forum
can be found on the Physics website page at
http://www.lmpc.edu.au/science
Introduction iii
Practical experiences are essential for the successful completion of the
Physics Stage 6 course. These practical experiences include:
undertaking laboratory experiments, including the use of appropriate
computer based and digital technologies
fieldwork
research using a wide range of sources, including print material, the
Internet and digital technologies
the use of computer simulations for modelling or manipulating data
using and reorganising secondary data
extracting and reorganising information in the form of flow charts,
tables, graphs, diagrams, prose and keys
the use of animation, video and film resources that can be used to
capture/obtain information not available in other forms.
Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, amended

October 2002.
The original and most up-to-date version of this document can be found on the
Boards website at http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au.
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Indicative time
There are four modules in the Preliminary Stage 6 Physics course. Each
module has an indicative completion time of 30 hours. All modules in
your Physics course are made up of six parts. Each part needs about five
hours of your time for completion.
Resources
Materials and equipment that you need to complete all activities in this
module are listed below. Remember that some of the activities will be
best conducted at your practical session with your teacher. If you do not
have access to some of the materials do not become concerned. Your
teacher may suggest alternative activities.
For one of the exercises in Part 6 you are required to collect and analyse
data on the digital process of the Internet for a 200 word report. This
data could be collected from the computer lift-out section of the
newspaper, TV or the Internet itself. You should be aware of this and
begin collating information now in order that you will have the necessary
resources at hand when you need them.
Access to a computer, graphics calculator and the Internet are aids to

assist you in achieving the outcomes of the course. Computer related
activities are indicated throughout the module. If you do not have access
to a computer this will not prevent you from achieving the course
outcomes.
For Part 1 you will need access to:

a scientific calculator
a graphics calculator
a pond or puddle of still water
a broad sheet newspaper
a slinky spring
a length of rope.

a slinky spring
Introduction v
a CRO (or digital oscilloscope/CRO computer program)
a microphone or alternative.

a portable cassette player capable of recording sound
a portable source of sound such as a cassette player and tape or
portable CD
a CRO (or digital oscilloscope/CRO computer program)
a microphone or alternative.

a light meter
a balloon
a ruler
an AM/FM radio with a clearly marked tuning dial
two cups or mugs.

a torch (preferably a Mag light type)
a mirror
a magnifying glass
pins
a dessert spoon
a glass slab or perspex slab
a protractor.

2 sheets of Polaroid plastic or the lenses from polarising sunglasses
or two polarising camera filters
sticky tape.
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Introduction vii
Glossary
This list of words and meanings is provided so that as you work through
the module you will be able to look up the words that are unfamiliar to
you. The glossary for the entire six parts of work making up this module
is supplied with Part 1. You will need to refer back to this glossary as
you progress through the module.
The following words, listed here with their meanings, are found in the
learning material in this module. They appear bolded the first time they
occur in the learning material.
acceleration rate of change in velocity.
amplitude maximum displacement of a vibrating particle
from its equilibrium position.
analyser the uppermost polaroid sheet in a petrological
microscope with a polarisation direction at
90 to the polariser.
anisotropic has variable optical properties particularly
refractive index or colour absorption along
different crystal axes.
annulment complete cancellation of wave amplitude.
antinode point of maximum displacement from the
equilibrium point.
bandwidth range of frequencies.
constructive superposition where wave displacements add
interference to give a larger wave displacement in the
resultant wave.
crest maximum positive amplitude position on a
transverse wave.
decode convert a signal to a form able to be
understood.
density mass of material in a unit volume.
destructive interference superposition of wave displacements add to
give a smaller displacements.
displacement movement of the particle or field from the
position or equilibrium.
elastic ability to return to an undisturbed state when
a stress is removed.
elasticity ability of a medium to return to its
undisturbed state after being deformed or
stressed.
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electromagnetic the full range of electromagnetic
spectrum frequencies/wavelengths.
electromagnetic wave an electric field and a magnetic field vibrating
at right angles to each other and also to the
direction of propagation. Produced by
oscillating (accelerated) charges.
emission release of energy, particle or radiation.
encode convert message into a signal for ease of
transmission.
forced (forcing) frequency of an applied vibration that is
frequency different to the natural frequency.
kinetic energy energy a mass possesses due to its movement.
isotropic medium waves travel in such a medium with the same
velocity in all directions.
inversely proportional one variable is directly proportional to the
reciprocal of the other.
laser acronym for light amplification by stimulated
emission of radiation.
longitudinal wave particles of the medium vibrate back and forth
along the direction of propagation.
maxima maximum amplitudes.
mechanical wave waves that travel through a medium able to be
deformed that is an elastic medium.
medium substance through which the wave is
travelling.
minima amplitude of the signal is low.
monochromatic single wavelength or frequency.
nodes points of zero amplitude.
periodic repeating over time, that is, a repeated motion
or a repeated waveform.
phase points of a wave are said to be in phase if the
amplitude and velocities at these points at any
time are exactly the same.
phase difference the amount one wave is behind another
usually expressed in a fraction of a
wavelength.
phase velocity velocity of the wave through the medium.
plane flat surface such as a sheet of paper.
Introduction ix
polariser the lowermost polaroid sheet in a petrological
microscope closest to the light source with a
polarisation direction at 90 to the analyser.
potential energy energy possessed by an object due to its
position.
radiation anything propagated as a wave.
reciprocal the inverse of for example the reciprocal of x
1
is .
x
resolution ability to distinguish points that are close

together.
simple harmonic vibrating motion such that the acceleration is
motion (SHM) proportional to the distance from the
equilibrium position and directed towards that
equilibrium position.
sine wave has a wave form the same as a sine function
when plotted. The shape of the curve
produced when y = sin x is plotted.
superposition adding the displacements of two or more
waves in the same medium to produce a
resultant waveform.
telecommunications a system or method of transferring
information by means of any electromagnetic
system such as radios waves or copper cable.
transmitter the device or apparatus that sends the signal
to the receiving parts of a telecommunications
system.
transverse wave vibrate in a plane that is perpendicular to the
direction of propagation.
trough maximum negative amplitude position on a
transverse wave.
velocity a speed in a certain direction.
vibrate move to-and-fro along a straight line or along
the arc.
viscosity resistance to flow in a fluid.
wave transfer of energy from a point without
accompanying transfer of mass.
wavelength distance between two successive crests or
troughs of a simple sine wave.
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Physics
Preliminary Course
Stage 6

Part 1: Waves
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 3
Communication outline.............................................................. 5
Developments in communication........................................................6
What do you know now?.....................................................................8
Communication devices....................................................................10
What is a wave anyway?......................................................... 12
Describing a wave.............................................................................12
What is the source of waves?...........................................................13
What is the wave model?..................................................................16
Waves are carriers of energy .................................................. 17
Examples of waves ...........................................................................17
Do waves carry energy? ...................................................................19
Wave detectors .................................................................................20
Evidence of energy transfer..............................................................21
Waves in one dimension...................................................................21
Waves in two dimensions .................................................................23
Drawing waves, rays and wavefronts...............................................25
Experimenting with water waves ......................................................27
Waves in three dimensions...............................................................28
The features of waves ............................................................. 31
Part 1: Waves 1
Frequency and wavelength ..............................................................32
How can waves be classified?................................................. 39
Can you make a longitudinal wave? ................................................40
Making a transverse wave................................................................42
Electromagnetic waves.....................................................................44
Wave motion............................................................................ 47
Simple harmonic motion ...................................................................47
Amplitude of a wave..........................................................................49
What does frequency mean? ...........................................................50
Frequency, wavelength and velocity................................................52
Wave velocity, v ................................................................................53
Using the wave equation ......................................................... 55
Can you use the wave equation?.....................................................56
Communication devices and waves......................................... 59
Summary ................................................................................. 61
Suggested answers ................................................................. 63
Exercises Part 1.................................................................... 69
2 The world communicates

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Introduction
This part introduces the topic The world communicates. Some of the
material in Part 1 may seem familiar to you. This is material you should
recall from the Science Stage 4 or 5 course.
In Part 1, you will be given opportunities to learn to:

analyse information to identify the waves involved in the transfer of
energy that occurs during the use of one of the following
transformations required in one of the following:
mobile telephone
television
radar
describe waves as a transfer of energy disturbance that may occur in
one, two or three dimensions, depending on the nature of the wave
medium
identify that mechanical waves require a medium for propagation
while electromagnetic waves do not
describe electromagnetic waves in terms of their speed in space and
their lack of requirement of a medium for propagation
define and apply the following terms to the wave model: medium,
displacement, annulment, period, compression,
rarefaction, crest, trough, transverse waves, longitudinal
waves, frequency, wavelength, velocity
describe the relationship between particle motion and the direction
of energy propagation in transverse and longitudinal waves
quantify the relationshipbetween velocity, frequency and
wavelength for a wave: v = f
In this part you will be given opportunities to:

perform a firsthand investigation to observe and gather information
about the transmission of waves in:
slinky springs
Part 1: Waves 3
water waves
ropes
or use appropriate computer simulations
present diagrammatic information about transverse and longitudinal
waves, direction of particle movement and the direction of
propagation
solve problems and analyse information by applying the

mathematical model of v = f to a range of situations
present diagrammatic information showing the troughs and crests of
transverse waves and calculate the wavelength and amplitude
perform a firsthand investigation to gather information about the
frequency, amplitude and velocity of waves using an oscilloscope
and electronic datalogging equipment
present and analyse information from displacementtime graphs for
transverse wave motion.

October 2002. The original and most up - to - date version of this document
can be found on the Boards website at
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus2000_listp.html#p

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Communication outline
Humans are social animals. They need to communicate to maintain their

social structure. Humans may have first communicated with gestures
using light waves. Then they developed speech or noises utilising sound
waves so they could warn others of impending danger.
These sound codings were then supplemented with symbols and written
communication. The use of a written message meant that
communications could be maintained over larger distances and through
time. Storage of communications became possible.
The trend has been for faster and more efficient methods of
communication. It took several days or months to get information from
one side of the world to the other 150 years ago. The discovery of
electricity and the use of the electromagnetic spectrum to carry signals
has led to changes to the way you communicate. Now our society is said
to be in the information age. The information modern society relies on
is the result of messages carried as energy pulses by waves.
To speed communication of information you can use a broad range of the

waves in electromagnetic spectrum to transfer messages including light
and radio waves. It is now possible for you, speaking in a normal voice,
to communicate a message around the world. In the late 19th century
this communication would have made it only from one end of a room to
the other.
Now you can encode the spoken word through common devices such as
the telephone that converts the sound waves to a more suitable form for
transmission over a longer distance and send the message to another part
of the world almost instantaneously. The phone you called reassembles
or decodes the message into sound waves and you can communicate with
the user of that phone on the other side of the world.
Most of us now accept the transfer of live sporting or cultural events

broadcast by television to our home as routine. The conversion and
transfer of the vision and sound of the event to our television on the other
side of the world from where the event is occurring is the result of energy
transfer by waves. The light and sound of the event is not transferred.
Part 1: Waves 5
The energy is transformed by an encoding device and forwarded to a
decoding device. This occurs using the pulsed waveform most suitable
to move that signal rapidly over vast distances.
This module will examine some wave properties and some of the ways
you are using waves to provide you with a better understanding of the
importance of different waves for communication in the modern world.
Developments in communication
You can see, after reading the outline for the module, that the history of
communication has followed a sequence of technological change that has
resulted in improvements in our capacity to communicate over
increasingly large distances.
You should now prepare your own time sequence that places the
advancements in methods of communication in an increasing time order.
This exercise will allow you to get a feel for the module. You shouldnt feel
you need a comprehensive knowledge of the history of communication at
this stage.
Here are some of the events in communication system development you

might like to include in your time sequence:
writing on clay tablets around six or seven thousand years ago
the use of paper began 2000 years ago
the printing press was invented around 600 years ago
Morse code was invented around 150 years ago
the radio was invented around 100 years ago
the telephone was invented 80 years ago
television was invented around 4050 years ago
the Internet revolution occurred in the past 10 years.
What other advances can you think of to add to your time sequence?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Try to imagine how each of these advances has impacted on society.

As well try to think of the developments in technology that permitted
each of the advances. Write these things down next to each development
on your time sequence. Remember, technology is any change in
knowledge or equipment that enabled a task to be completed.

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Complete your time sequence in the space below. Use the sequence
above and any other data you can source from elsewhere.
Time sequence
Years ago Advance in Impacts on society Development in

communication technology required
for the advance
Part 1: Waves 7
What do you know now?
You have read the outline. It described some of the ways you use waves
to communicate. You already use some these technologies. Now it is
time for you to take what you are already aware of a step further.
You should now ask yourself What do I know? and How can I connect
the pieces of information I know already?
One of the best ways to organise your ideas and realise the answer to these
key questions is by drawing a concept map. This will help you to prepare
for the learning in the module.
Concept maps are collections of main ideas that are interrelated. Writing
down all the main ideas in a topic and then connecting the related ideas with
lines makes concept maps. On the connecting lines you write what you
believe is the link between the concepts. As you progress through the topic
you can add links to your concept map. This means the concept map will
form a summary for you at the end of the topic.
Concept maps:
are rarely neat. Lines connecting concepts can and do go anywhere
and everywhere
are yours. No one else will make exactly the same map
are drawn at the beginning of a module to help you to organise your
thoughts about what you already know and gives you some idea
about possible connections that you might make as your learning in
the module continues
should be added to as you go through the module
drawn at the end of a module, can help your teacher to help you clear
up any misunderstanding you have about the learning in a module or
section of a module.
As you progress through the module you may change your mind about
some of the things your map contained earlier. That means you are
learning more. Therefore, it is a good idea to do your map in pencil or by
using a computer so you can easily delete or add things later.
Drawing a concept map

There is an outline of a concept map on the next page. The main
concepts you will need to connect and learn about in this module are
shown in the bubbles. There may be more that you can add later as the
topic progresses.

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Your task is to complete this concept map by joining interrelated concepts in

the bubbles with a line as the topic progresses. You should write on the
connecting lines you have drawn to show how these ideas and any others
you can think of are connected. It may be better for you to copy these points
to a large sheet of paper to ensure that you have enough room to add your
comments and any other major points you think of while doing the module.
A concept map allows you to see what you know before beginning the
module. Dont worry if you cant make too many connections.
Remember you havent done the learning activities in this module yet.
At the end of the module you will submit your concept map to your
teacher to enable him/her to assess your understanding of the module.
the wave energy

model transformation
refraction waves reflection
light information
technology
communication
mechanical the
waves information
age
sound electromagnetic
waves
Having completed as much of the concept map as you can, answer the
following questions.
Part 1: Waves 9
Do you understand the content of the module more clearly now?
______________________________________________________
What would you like to know more about from the topics shown in
the concept map for this module?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Where do you think you could find more information about the
topics in the bubbles of the concept map?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Can you locate this easily? Will this information help your study?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
The idea of communication is now synonymous with the use of

communication devices. There are large numbers of media
advertisements (using communication devices) for the latest and best
communication devices. The next section of this module looks at what a
communication device does.
Communication devices
What does a communication device need to work and what has
communication got to do with waves? This is probably one of the
questions you have already thought about.
One of the best descriptions of the requirements of a communications

device is that provided by Samuel Morse of Morse code fame.
Morse was the first great pioneer of telecommunications.

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Morse listed the essential parts of his telecommunication system as:

a system of signs, by which numbers, and consequently words and
sentences, are converted into a signal; this is equivalent to an
encoding device. Encoding simply means converting the message
into a form that can be used as a signal
a set of type instructions or symbols adapted to regulate and
communicate the signals, with rules in which to set up the type; this
is equivalent to a transmitter or sending device
an apparatus called the portrule, for regulating the movement of the
typerules, that regulate the times and intervals of the passage of
electricity; this is equivalent to a device to add information to the
wave signal
methods of laying conductors to preserve them from injury; this is a
medium for the wave carrying the message to travel through
a register, which records the signs permanently; this is equivalent to
a receiver that detects the wave
a dictionary, or vocabulary of words, numbered and adapted to this
system of telegraph; this is equivalent to a decoding device.
Every modern device you can use for telecommunication must have these
basic parts.
Drawing a communication flow chart

When you use a communication device such as a transistor radio it has all of
these features. Draw a flow chart in the space below to identify all of the
parts of the chain necessary to make up a radio transmission from your
favourite radio station to you.
Part 1: Waves 11
What is a wave anyway?
In a communication device the signal carrier is a wave. When you go out

form the shore one or two kilometres over the ocean in an aeroplane or
look at the sea from a tall cliff, you often see swells rolling in toward
shore. Swells are big waves. If you were able to look at the swells in
crosssection you would see they are in the shape of a sine wave.
A sine wave is the curve that you can produce if you plot y = sin x for
values of x between 0 and 360. The highest points of the waves are
crests (that would be 90 on your plot of y = sin x), and the lowest points
are troughs (that would be 270 on your plot of y = sin x).
The distance, crest to crest between waves is called the wavelength. If

you were to cut a wavelength in halves, you would get two opposite
shapes, one down and the other up. If you were to count how many full
ocean waves pass a fixed point per second you have the wave frequency.
Describing a wave
1 On the diagram of a wave below label a trough and a crest.
The wave drawn above shows one complete wavelength.

2 Write a definition for a wavelength by describing the wave above.
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3 Continue this wave on by drawing a wave shape pattern so that you

draw in another complete wavelength on this diagram.
Do you know a mathematical function that has a similar shape to the

wave you have drawn? A sine curve has a similar shape to the waves
shown in the diagram.
What is the source of waves?

The source of all waves is a vibration.
To see how a wave is produced from a simple vibration, imagine you

have set up the apparatus in the figure below. The mass on a spring has a
pen attached to the mass, m. The pen is able to write on a strip of paper.
Now imagine what would happen if a simple chart recorder is attached to

the paper. A chart recorder is a motordriven mechanism that pulls
paper off a roll at a constant speed.
If you set the mass vibrating up and down by pulling on the spring then
releasing it with the chart recorder switched off, then the pen (being in
contact with the paper) will mark out a straight line on the paper as
shown in the figure below. The number of vibrations of the pen up and
down per second is assumed to be constant in this example.
straight line
vibration direction m paper is stationary
The pattern produced when the source is vibrating but not moving forward in
the medium is a straight line.
When the chart recorder is switched on, the paper moves past the
vibrating pen at a constant speed. The pen will then mark out the pattern
shown in the figure on the next page.
Part 1: Waves 13
trace left by pencil in a sine wave shape
Paper moving at
constant speed
The wave pattern being produced by a constantly vibrating source on paper

propagating forward. In this case it is the paper medium moving forward while
the source of disturbance stays stationary.
In this case, the pattern produced is a simple waveform, a sine wave

(sine curve). Notice how the combination of one body vibrating in an
upanddown motion (the pen) and the second body moving in a straight
line at a constant speed (the paper) at 90 to the vibration produces a
waveform.
Making a wave
You may like to try this experiment yourself by using one hand to move a
pen up and down on a sheet of paper while slowly pulling the paper away
from the pen with your other hand.
Alternatively, you may like to have someone else help you by pulling the
paper as you move the pen up and down.
The horizontal movement of the paper shows two features. They are:
the time the wave has propagated forward
the distance the wave has propagated forward in that time.
Note that the distance or length of paper rolled out depends upon the
speed at which the paper was pulled out. A certain distance of paper will
always be pulled out in a fixed time if the speed of paper being pulled out
is constant.
If you translate this to a graph of the motion of the vibrating pen then you
can present these graphs as shown in the figure opposite.

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displacement (m)
1 2 3
0
time (s)
1
displacement (m)
2 4 6
0
distance (m)
1
These two graphs represent the same motion of the vibrating pen and the paper
being rolled out.
The first graph allows you to determine that a complete wavelength takes
two seconds to pass a point. This means the waves period is two
seconds. The waves frequency or the number of wavelengths passing a
point is 0.5 per second or 0.5 Hertz (0.5 Hz). The second graph enables
you to determine that a wavelength is 4 m.
The combined information from these two graphs enables you to

determine the speed of the wave as represented by the amount of paper
pulled out in a fixed time from the equation:
wave speed = distance travelled/time taken.

1 Use the information from the two graphs of the same motion shown
above to calculate the wave speed. Make sure your answer has units
(ms1) as well as numbers.
_____________________________________________________
2 When you see a wave travelling as a ripple across a pond or other
body of still water what do you think is vibrating?
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Part 1: Waves 15
What is the wave model?
When most people hear the term wave they think about the surface
appearance of water waves in a pond or the ocean. You do this because
these are the waves you see in nature. You can visualise the way these
waves move in space and time and you can relate to the motion from
your experiences with water waves.
The behaviour of water waves is obvious to all. You can see the height
of the wave, the distance between wave crests and troughs. You can
easily measure the speed of the wave propagating forward. You are
comfortable with the concept of the wave.
The wave model is an idea that enables you to describe everyday

phenomena such as light or sound in a way that you can understand.
In using the wave model you take information you can see in the water
world and relate that to the behaviour you interpret to be occurring in
phenomena such light and sound.
Neither light nor sound is what you could describe as obviously wavelike
in appearance. If you were asked to describe behaviour of sound and
didnt apply a wave model you would have great difficulty. A similar
problem would happen if you tried to describe light. But by the end of
this module you will be able to describe sound and light waves in terms
of a wave model.
In summary, the wave model is simply a construction to describe the

behaviour of complex phenomena in terms of something you can relate
to, visible waves. In using the model though you must also accept that
sound and light are actually waves!
Do Exercise 1.1 now.

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Waves are carriers of energy
How do you know waves are carriers of energy? If you ever go to the
beach and stand in front of a wave coming in you will know that waves
carry energy and can transfer that energy to objects they encounter.
Consider what happens in the following situations:

a pebble is dropped into a pool of still water
a flag ripples in the breeze
the free end of a rope tied to a post is given a jerk.
In each case a disturbance caused by a vibration travelled through a

medium (the water, the cloth of the flag, the material of the rope).
The medium moved up and down or back and forth but did not go along
with the disturbance.
Disturbances that travel through materials are waves. A wave can go

from one place to another (through a medium) carrying energy with it.
Wave motion is one of the most important means of transferring energy
in the universe.
Examples of waves
Some everyday examples of energy being transferred by waves include:
light waves from the Sun that carry the energy required to sustain
plant life, and ultimately all life, on our planet
light waves required for us to read printed text and signs, and view
the visual world
infrared waves from the Sun or hot objects such as an open fireplace
or radiators that are absorbed and detected by our bodies, providing
warmth on a cold morning
Part 1: Waves 17
microwaves absorbed by the water molecules in food that heat our
leftovers, speed our cooking, and can prepare us a coffee or tea in
around a minute or two
sound waves that carry the energy from person to person which is so
important for communicating with the spoken word
sound waves from a siren that can act as a warning of danger or
signify the end or beginning of some event.
In which direction does the energy carried by a wave travel? In waves

the flow of energy is in the direction that the waves travel.
The wave moving forward has a face of continuous crest. This face is
called the wavefront. Energy moves in the same direction as the
wavefronts and is carried by the wave.
If the source of the waves is a point acting as a source of vibration (called

a point source) then the wave will radiate out from that point. This will
result in either circular or spherical wavefronts depending whether the
wave is propagating in two or three dimensions.
A wave propagating in two dimensions can be represented as in the

figure below. The further the wave is from the source the straighter those
wavefronts will appear. This is because the wavefront will represent a
smaller and smaller arc of a circle that is ever expanding.
spherical wavefront plane wavefront
point source near source far from source
Wavefronts from a point source.
Waves in water
In this activity you will perform an investigation in which you observe and
gather information about the transmission of waves in water.
1 Find a still pond or dam.
2 Throw a rock into the middle of the pond and watch the waves as
they spread out from the disturbance. The further the individual
wavefronts are from the source of the disturbance the straighter

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small lengths of the wavefront will appear. Did you see the patterns
shown above appearing?
3 Throw in a bigger rock. Is there any difference in the pattern? If so
describe the difference.
4 Try throwing in two rocks at once. Describe the pattern you see by
drawing a labelled diagram on your own paper.
Do waves carry energy?

This activity is designed to assist you to recall that waves are carriers of
energy. Many forms of energy can be carried by waves. These include
movement energy known as kinetic energy and electromagnetic energy.
There is an important difference between these two. Transfer of kinetic

energy requires particles to move so that the wave travels from place to
place. Electromagnetic energy requires no particles to move from one
place to another.
1 Using this information you should complete the following table.
The energy possibilities are: kinetic energy and electromagnetic energy.
Tick the waves you decided could pass through the vacuum of space.
Wave Type of energy carried or transferred
sound wave
water wave
earthquake
light wave
radio wave
microwaves in a microwave oven
infrared wave
ultraviolet wave
Part 1: Waves 19
2 Identify the type of energy transferred by waves in each of these
cases below.
Case Type of energy transferred
a surfer riding a wave
the stars at night
the stereo playing music at top volume
an earthquake
3 Sometimes waves are described as a transfer of an energy

disturbance. What does this mean?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Wave detectors
Did you know our bodies detect waves? Our senses provide our bodies
with the interface to the brain. This enables us to detect the energy
transferred by small sections of the spectrum (or range) of sound and
electromagnetic waves.
Our eyes detect light waves. Sound waves are detected by our ears.
Infrared waves are detected by nerve endings in our skin. You are a
wave detector!
Write out a list of any other wave detectors that you can think of that you
would expect to come in contact with on a regular basis, for example a
television.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

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Evidence of energy transfer

What evidence can you see that waves are a transfer of energy
disturbance?
When you strike a golf ball some of the kinetic energy from the head of
your club is transferred to the ball. The ball then takes off at a high
speed. Originally the ball had no kinetic energy. The ball gained kinetic
energy when the moving club struck it. Therefore, the energy transfer
has taken place by direct contact. This transfer of energy from one object
to another is easy to understand. Waves transfer energy without direct
contact being necessary.
Waves in one dimension

You can make a wave travel along a rope or spring if one end is held firmly
and the other end moved up and down as shown in the figure below.
direction waveshape moves
direction of
initial rest position of rope
vibration
Waves in one dimension. Example one: a wave in a rope.
This wave transports energy through a material by the motion of a pulse

or disturbance without a transfer of the material itself.
Consider a long stretched spiral spring (see the figure below).
Stretched spiral spring.
If the hand moves down and up as indicated in the figure above a wave
will travel along the spring as shown in the figure on the next page.
Part 1: Waves 21
Waves in one dimension. Example two: slinky spring.
Making waves in one dimension

If you, or someone else you know, has a slinky spring, borrow it and try the
activity described above. It is often better for you to stand to the side and
watch someone else creating the wave. You may like to videotape your
wave to make slow speed observations using the frame advance on a VCR.
The wave travels along a horizontal spring or rope because as it moves

downwards one part of the spring or rope pulls the next part of the spring
or rope down. In so doing it loses some, and ultimately all, of its own
movement energy. Stretching the next part of the spring or rope
transmits the downandup motion. That part then starts to move itself.
The downandup motion is transmitted along the spring or rope as a
wave with a definite speed.
(Do not confuse this speed of the wave motion with the continually
changing speed of the spring or rope particles. They are probably
moving up and down, with a different speed. That means the speed of
motion of a particle or small part of the spring or rope bears little
relationship to how fast the wave travels through the spring or rope.)
A wave travelling along a spring or rope like this is propagating (or

moving) in one dimension.
1 Relate this motion of the wave along the spring or rope to the earlier
activity where the pen moves up and down and the paper is pulled along
under the vibrating pen.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2 How is the situation described here with the stretched spiral spring
or rope similar to the paper and pen experiment described earlier in
the module?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

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3 How is the situation described with the spring or rope different to the
paper and pen experiment?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Waves in two dimensions

Movement energy from one body can also be transferred to another
without the bodies coming into direct contact. For example, a cork or
fishing float dropped into a pond will vibrate up and down. When the
cork bobs up and down in the still water, waves will be set up on the
water surface and these waves will propagate out from the cork as shown
in the figure below.
cork dropped here
TOP VIEW
FRONT VIEW
Wavefronts radiating out from a disturbance in water. These waves are

radiating out from the disturbance across the water surface as a series of
concentric circular wavefronts.
Part 1: Waves 23
The disturbance, if viewed from the front, would show a set of waves
similar to that you saw in one dimension where a rope was attached at
one end and shaken up and down. This is shown in the line diagram in
the figure above. This front view is the same as the projected wave
profile in the line diagram.
Can you see what mathematical curve it looks like? A sine curve.
On the line diagram above, mark on the projected sine wave profile the
direction of the wave motion away from the central point using arrows.
If you dropped the cork into a pond with a similar cork one or two metres
away, that cork would start to move up and down as a result of the
energy transferred to it from waves produced by the first cork.
The energy from the first cork would have travelled along the water
surface, yet the water molecules themselves have simply moved in the
manner described in the diagram below.
The motion of the molecules is different to the direction in which the

energy contained in the wave was moving. With water waves the
molecules tend to move in nearly circular orbits as the wave passes.
If you have ever gone to the beach for a swim out just beyond the
breaking surf, you may have felt the circular motion as you are moved up
and down by a passing wave.
a water wave wave direction wave crest
wave trough
water molecules move in circular orbits when a wave disturbance passes by
The actual particle movement that occurs as a wave propagates forward.

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flow of energy
wavefronts
Wavefronts and the direction of energy flow
If you were to repeat the activity above but place 50 corks in a circle in a
still pond and drop another cork in the centre of them, then the wave
generated from the original disturbance would cause all of the corks to
bob up and down. This example shows clearly that the water waves in
this case are an energy disturbance travelling in two dimensions capable
of doing work on the still corks to make them bob up and down.
The tops of a radiating wave of one concentric circle represents
a wavefront.
Look at the diagram showing the wavefronts and the direction of energy
flow. What can you say about the angle between the direction of
propagation of the wave and flow of energy as indicated by the arrows?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
Drawing waves, rays and wavefronts

A line drawn perpendicular to a wavefront is called a ray. The arrows
shown on the figure are rays. Rays are drawn as straight lines with
arrowheads showing the direction of wave propagation and energy flow.
If you looked down from an aircraft onto an ocean with a reasonable

swell you would see parallel wavefronts moving in a direction
perpendicular to the wave propagation direction.
Part 1: Waves 25
The figure below shows a commonly used representation of the
wavefronts as lines perpendicular to the direction of wave travel. A ray
represents the direction of wave travel and could be represented by the
arrow drawn on this figure.
direction
of wave
The wavefronts are straight lines and the arrow in the figure below shows their
direction of travel. This arrow could represent a ray.
The wavefronts shown above are straight. If these wavefronts were produced
from a point source would that source be close to, or at a large distance from,
the wavefronts represented in this diagram? Explain your answer.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
It is easier to study waves and the way they interact when you can see
them. What you see in water waves can be used to explain other
phenomena in waveforms such as sound and light that you cannot see.

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Experimenting with water waves

When you go to a practical session with your teacher you may see water
waves generated with a ripple tank and wave generator.
lamp
electric motor
bar touching water

for straight ripples
rubber ball down for

band circular ripples
water
(5 mm
deep)
screen
Wave generator. This device can generate straight wavefronts or circular

wavefronts depending on the setup.
The equipment and setup may look like the one in the figure opposite.
This device enables you to observe wave patterns in a controlled
environment and make observations of the properties of waves.
This device is useful for studying twodimensional waves. By adjusting

the equipment so that the bar is touching the water you can produce
straight wave fronts. To produce circular wavefronts you adjust the
equipment so that the ball touches the water first.
Part 1: Waves 27
Waves in three dimensions
Can you think of some examples of a wave that might occur in three
dimensions? Write down a list of any you can think of in the space below.
Hint: They may be waves in which you cant see anything moving.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
One of the best examples of threedimensional wave motion is the light

from a globe suspended from a wire to the centre of an empty room.
The light comes from the filament of the light globe yet the light
illuminates the walls, floor and ceiling of the room. The sphere of light
emitted from a globe is shown in the figure below.
Light from a suspended globe is emitted in three dimensions.
Similarly, sound generated from a point source by an explosion or siren

will spread out in three dimensions from its source. Sirens are often
located on towers above the ground to warn people higher in buildings,
and on the ground in all directions from the tower. In the past in many
European villages church bells were located high in the church tower for
exactly this purpose. Sound from the bell spreads out in all directions,
even to people high in surrounding hills.

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Similarities and differences

Waves propagating in one or two dimensions are different to waves
propagating in three dimensions.
1 What similarities do threedimensional waves have to one and
twodimensional waves?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2 What differences do threedimensional waves have from one and
twodimensional waves?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Can you describe waves?

Describing waves is simple. You have already learned some of the
terminology or words used to describe the features of waves. List the
terms you are familiar with already and write down what they mean.
Check your definition of the word with the one given in the glossary or
defined earlier in the text.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
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Part 1: Waves 29
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
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The features of waves
All types of waves have features in common. When describe a wave you
can refer to these features. The features of waves are listed below.
The wavelength of a wave is the distance between adjacent points of
two waves that are in phase. In phase means these points have
exactly the same motion at the same time.
One wavelength is the distance between adjacent crests or tops of
waves. The symbol given to the wavelength is .
The wave speed is the speed of the wavefront moving forward.
Wave speed has the symbol v.
The amplitude is the maximum distance a particle vibrates from the
level of no disturbance. The symbol for amplitude is A.
crest
v
A
v
A
trough
= wavelength
A = amplitude
v = velocity
Waves can be described in terms of wavelength, amplitude and velocity.
The frequency of a wave is the number of wavelengths or complete
wave cycles that pass a fixed point in a unit of time. This is usually
one second.
Frequency is often expressed in the units hertz (Hz). One Hz means
one wavelength passing a point in one second. One million
wavelengths passing a point in one second is a frequency of
1 000 000 Hz. Frequency has the symbol f.
Part 1: Waves 31
The period is the time taken for one complete vibration. That is, the
time from rest to the maximum distance from the undisturbed level,
then to the lowest point and back again to undisturbed level.
The period is related to the frequency by the relationship that the
period is equal to the reciprocal of the frequency. The period has
the symbol, T.
1
T=
f
f is measured in hertz (Hz)
T is in seconds (s)
The figure below shows the cycle a particle would have to go through for
one period as represented by the letters a to i. This cycle from a to i
represents a single wavelength.
c
b d direction of wave ripple
A
a e i
undisturbed level
f h
g
The cycle of movement a wave particle goes through in one wavelength.
There a many sites on the Internet that deal with wave terminology and
the description of that terminology. Look at some pages that relate to
wave terminology on the Physics website page. At these websites you
can see frequency, wavelength and amplitude demonstrated. Some
websites enable you to vary the amplitude and frequency of waves.
Frequency and wavelength

The activity below requires you to recall the features of a wave including
frequency, wavelength and speed.
You will need to work with someone else to complete this activity most
effectively.

You should plan, choose equipment for and do this activity to gather
information so you can identify the relationship between the frequency
and wavelength of a wave.
In this activity you will observe a case of the frequency or amplitude

changing in a wave motion and relate that to the motion of a particle
vibrating and causing a wave motion.
You will need the following equipment to do this activity:

a double sheet from a newspaper
a coloured marking pen.
Step 1
Use a marker pen held in one hand to set up a vibration.
Move the pen up and down in a regular motion so that it draws a straight
line of constant length on the edge of a double page from a newspaper.
Have another person slowly pull the paper out from under your pen at a
constant speed so that you are drawing on the newspaper. This will
enable you to draw a wave motion as in the earlier described activity near
the beginning of the module where the pen was attached to a mass
vibrating on the end of a spring or rope.
While the paper is being dragged at a constant speed increase the rate at
which you move the pen up and down the page but try not to change the
length of the motion you are drawing up and down the page.
Draw and label the resulting wave shape in the space below.
1 What feature of this wave changes going across the page?

_____________________________________________________
Part 1: Waves 33
Step 2
Repeat the setup above but move the pen at a constant rate. Move the
pen up and down a constant number of times each minute. Gradually
increase the length of the line you would draw up and down as the page
is pulled out from under your pen at a constant slow rate.
Draw the resulting wave shape in the space below and label it.
2 What feature of this wave changes going across the page?

______________________________________________________
Step 3
Move a marker pen up and down in a regular motion to draw a straight

line of constant length on the edge of a double page from a newspaper.
Have another person slowly pull the paper out from under your pen at a
constant speed so that you draw a wave motion as in the earlier activity.
This time have the person assisting you pull the paper across the table a
little faster. Try to keep the rate at which you move the pen up and down
a constant and the length of the line you are drawing a constant. This
would give your two waves a constant amplitude and frequency.
Draw the resulting wave shapes in the space below.
3 What feature of these two waves you have drawn is different?

______________________________________________________
Check your answers.

Frequency in water waves
You have already studied frequency in the previous activity. Now you
should measure the frequency of some water waves.
Measure the frequency of a water wave in a still pond by doing the

following.
1 Throw a cork in near the middle of the pond. When the pond is still
again, throw a stone near the cork. The stone will start the water
vibrating where it enters and create waves.
2 Measure the time it takes for the cork to bob up and down once.
_____________________________________________________
3 Measure the time it takes for the cork to bob up and down twice.
_____________________________________________________
4 Measure the time it takes for the cork to bob up and down five times.
_____________________________________________________
5 Which answer do you feel is the most accurate and why?
_____________________________________________________
6 Divide the time taken for the cork to bob up and down five times by
five.
This is the period of the wave or the time taken for one wavelength
to pass a point.
_____________________________________________________
7 The frequency of the wave is the reciprocal of the period.
The wave frequency is __________________________________
Note that the frequency of a wave can be less than 1 Hz and often is
with water waves such as those you would see at the beach.
Why do you think you get a more accurate answer if you measure the
time for the cork to bob up and down five times instead of just once?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answer.
You know that waves have some features in common. There are,
however, differences between waves also. In the next section you will be
investigating different types of waves.
Part 1: Waves 35
How can waves be classified?
You have probably already recognised that all wave types are not the
same in terms of the direction of vibration and energy propagation. In
this section you will learn to classify waves according to this feature.
You can already assign waves to one of two categories according to the
type of energy they consist of:
mechanical (kinetic/potential)
electromagnetic.
Waves
electromagnetic mechanical
do not require medium do require medium

for transmission for transmission
all transverse transverse
alternating particles vibrate

electric and perpendicularly
magnetic fields to the direction
operating of the wave
perpendicularly propagation
to the direction
of wave travel
longitudinal
particles vibrate
in the same
direction as
wave
propagation
Different wave types can be classified according to the energy they consist of or
the source of the vibration or disturbance producing the wave.
Part 1: Waves 37
Another way to classify waves is according to their geometry. This is
linked to the source of the vibration or disturbance producing the wave.
The vibration or disturbance producing the wave may occur:

at right angles (90) to the direction of wave propagation.
These waves are called transverse waves
in the same direction as the direction of wave propagation.
These waves are called longitudinal waves.
Use the information on the chart above to indicate whether the following
statements are true or false.
Electromagnetic waves can travel in a vacuum. (true/false)

Mechanical waves can travel in a vacuum. (true/false)
Transverse waves are only ever electromagnetic waves. (true/false)
Longitudinal waves can be electromagnetic waves. (true/false)
A longitudinal wave can travel in a vacuum. (true/false)
Check your answers.
Can you make a longitudinal wave?

A longitudinal wave is really a series of compressions and rarefactions.
Compressions are set up and travel through a medium. Sometimes the
compressions can be felt, as with a loud, low pitched note from a large
organ pipe. At a rock concert you may feel pulses of sound if you are
close to the speakers. This is because sound is an example of a
longitudinal or compression wave.
You cant see a sound wave pulse but you can hear and feel one. If you
want to see a longitudinal wave pulse one of the easiest ways is to use a
slinky spring.
compression rarefaction
Compressions and rarefactions in a slinky spring.

Longitudinal waves in a spring
To do this activity you will need to use a slinky spring. You may already
have one of these but if not then you may wait and do this activity at your
practical session with your teacher. The figures drawn below describe the
results you will see.
How to do the activity

1 Tie one end of the slinky to a post or door handle.
2 Stretch the slinky out.
3 Collect five or six coils from the ends of the slinky and compress
them together with your fingers. By doing this you are storing
energy in the compressed spring coils.
4 Let the compressed coils go.
What do you see? You should see a pulse of compressed coils travel
along the length of the slinky.
The picture below shows a pulse travelling along the slinky. This pulse
is a longitudinal wave produced by compressing the spring. In a
longitudinal wave, the motion of the particles of the medium is back and
forth in the plane of propagation.
Longitudinal wave traveling along the slinky spring.
Part 1: Waves 39
The individual coils vibrate back and forth in the direction in which the
wave pulse travels along the spring. If the compression and release of
the coils nearest your hand is repeated, a series of longitudinal pulses will
travel along the spring. Where the coils are bunched up you have a
compression and where the coils are widely separated relative to their
undisturbed positions you have a rarefaction.
Remember: In a longitudinal wave the particles vibrate in the same plane

as the direction of wave travel.
Look at a page that shows an animation of a pulse travelling along a slinky

spring on the Physics website page.
Making a transverse wave

The vibration component of a transverse wave involves particles
undergoing an up and down motion while the wave travels horizontally.
One of the best examples of a transverse wave pulse is the Mexican

wave at a sporting event in a circular stadium. The wave is created by
people sitting in one section radiating out from the centre of the stadium.
To continue the waves they raise their arms above their head just after
the person seated next to them. Lower their arms just after the people to
the left or right of them lower their arms, depending on the direction of
wave travel.
For the wave to work most efficiently you raise your arms immediately
after the person beside you and lower then immediately after they lower
theirs. If everyone does this, a wave pulses forward around the stadium.
The only motion of the people is at 90 to the direction of wave travel.
Besides looking great its fun to keep the wave going.
Transverse waves in slinky springs or ropes

Tie one end of the slinky to a post or door handle. See the figure below.
Stretched slinky spring.
Stretch the slinky or rope out by walking away from where it is tied.

Be careful not to stretch the slinky too far or let it go when stretched. It may
hurt you or a friend.
Move the end of the slinky or rope you are holding down and up with
single sharp jerk of your hand. A wave should be generated in the spring
and move forward as a pulse.
What do you see? You should see a pulse of vertically displaced slinky
coils or rope travel along the length of the slinky or rope. Your results
could appear similar to the figure below.
If you look at the motion of the coils as shown you will be able to see
that the coils simply move down and up about their rest position shown
by the dashed line but the pulse moves forward.
The up-and-down motion of the coils in a stretched slinky after a sudden jerk.
Remember: In a transverse wave the vibration of particles is at 90 to the

direction of travel of the wave. Mechanical waves require the presence
of some solid, liquid or gaseous matter to travel through. That matter is
the medium that the energy forming the wave travels through. Examples
of mechanical transverse waves include earthquake waves, water waves
and sound waves.
Now that you have looked at a transverse and a longitudinal wave in a

spring you should be able to describe the method of wave travel in
words. In your description, refer to how the wave energy travels along
the spring and how the particles vibrate to allow that wave motion.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Part 1: Waves 41
Electromagnetic waves
Electromagnetic waves include radio, light, x-rays and gamma rays.
The figure below shows a simple diagram of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
gamma x-rays ultraviolet infra-red radio waves electrical

rays light microwaves TV radio power
Wavelength
0.01 nm 1 nm 0.1 m 0.01 mm 1 cm 1m 1 km 103 km
Wavelength in metres 0.40.7m
1011 109 107 105 102 100 103 106
A simple electromagnetic spectrum.
In this figure the wavelength of some typical electromagnetic waves from

each part of the spectrum are indicated. The abbreviation is the
micrometre or 10-6 m while nm is one nanometre or 10-9 m.
1 Look at the figure above. What can you say about the trend in the
wavelength of electromagnetic waves going from gamma rays to radio
waves?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
8 1
2 The velocity of all electromagnetic waves is the same at 3 10 ms
in a vacuum. Use this fact to explain how the frequency of the
waves varies as the wavelength changes.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Electromagnetic waves do not require matter to travel through; in fact

they travel fastest in a vacuum, such as space. Most of the 150 million
kilometres between the Sun and the Earth is a vacuum. Yet light,
infrared radiation and some ultraviolet radiation waves from the Sun
reach us easily. As well, light from distant stars travels to our world
through the vast distances of the universe.
Electromagnetic waves consist of a wave propagating forward that is

made up of alternating electric and magnetic fields at 90 to one another.
This is shown in the figure on the next page.

E B
source of
E-M wave
An electromagnetic (E - M) wave. The electric field is represented by the symbol

E and the magnetic field by the symbol B. The arrows represent the direction of
the fields. The rise and decline of the field strengths periodically produces the
wavelike form for both the magnetic and electric fields.
The source of the wave is a vibrating charged particle. Electromagnetic

waves always travel at a constant velocity in any medium. That velocity
is given the symbol c.
No matter is involved in the transmission of electromagnetic waves.

The magnetic and electric field fields propagate together in phase,
perpendicular to each other as shown as shown in the figure above.
Look at a web page that shows an electromagnetic wave pulse propagating

forward on the Physics website page.
Part 1: Waves 43
Wave motions
When you look at either longitudinal or transverse mechanical wave

motion you can see that the vibration component of the wave motion
involves particles of the medium (or bits of the spring or rope)
undergoing an up-and-down or back-and-forth motion. This motion is
called simple harmonic motion (SHM).
Simple harmonic motion

This simple harmonic motion occurs because the disturbed particles are
restrained by the elasticity of the medium and made to move back
toward the level of no disturbance. The behaviour of particles follows
the pattern outlined in the table below.
Particle position Displacement of the Speed of the particle Magnitude of the

of the wave particle from the level of acceleration of the
no disturbance particle
crest maximum zero the particle has maximum the

stopped particle will increase
speed towards the
level of no disturbance
level of no zero maximum zero

disturbance
trough negative maximum zero the particle has maximum the

stopped particle will increase
speed towards the
level of no disturbance
Note that the maximum acceleration experienced by the particle at the

crest and at the trough is in opposite directions.

One of the commonest examples of simple harmonic motion is a child on
a swing. This pendulum motion is simple harmonic motion. Can you
see the similarity between what is described in the table to a childs
motion on a swing?
position negative zero positive

maximum maximum
speed zero maximum zero
acceleration maximum zero maximum
The pendulum motion of the swing is simple harmonic motion.
1 Transfer the information from the table to the diagram of a wave motion
below. Remember: Any position on the wave actually represents the
position of a particle. The vibration of the particle for a longitudinal
wave is simply rotated through 90. Write in the correct words in the
figure below.
The particles speed is __________________
The particles acceleration is _____________
The particles distance from the rest point is _
distance from undisturbed level (m)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
time (s)


2 If each unit on the scale on the side of the figure above represents 2
m what is the amplitude of this wave? ______________________
Check your answers.
Part 1: Waves 45
Amplitude of a wave
5
y = sin x
-15 10 5 5 10 15
-5
5
y = 0.5 sin x
-15 10 5 5 10 15
-5
5
y = 5 sin x
-15 10 5 5 10 15
-5
The three curves shown above all have the same _________ and the same
___________________________ . The curves differ in the way they look
because the _________________ or distance from the zero level of particle
disturbance is larger or smaller. This is represented by the value of the
number multiplying the sin x. This number is the amplitude of the wave.
Check your answers.

What does frequency mean?
The three curves shown on the following page represent waves travelling
at the same velocity. All have the same amplitude but have different
frequencies and wavelengths.
2
y = sin x/0.2
1
2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-1
-2
2
y = sin x/0.5
1
2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-1
-2
2
y = sin x/0.9
1
2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
-1
-2
1 Are the amplitudes of the waves shown above the same or different?
Explain your answer by referring to the curves.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2 Are the wavelengths the same or different?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Part 1: Waves 47
3 The frequencies are different. What do you think frequency is?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
4 Complete these sentences.
(a) As the frequency increases the wavelength
__________________ if the wave has a constant velocity.
(b) As the wavelength decreases the frequency
____________________ if the wave has a constant velocity.
Check your answers.
Plotting curves using a graphing calculator

On a graphing calculator you can plot the graph of y = n sin x for a number
of values of n, such as for n from 1 to 5. Note how the shape of the graph
changes.
If your graphing calculator is on a computer and has an animate function

plot y = n sin x for a range of n (say 1 to 5) and you will see the amplitude of
the wave changing.
If you dont have a graphing calculator but have access to a computer you
can download a graphing calculator at sites on the Internet. Look at these
sites on the Physics website page.
How do changes in the amplitude (the value of n) affect frequency and

wavelength?
x
On a graphing calculator plot the graph of y = sin for a number of
n
values of n, say from 1 to 5.
You can see that the frequency of the wave changes.
If your graphing calculator is on a computer and has an animate function

x
you can plot y = sin for a range of n (say 1 to 5) and you will see the
n
frequency of the wave changing.

Frequency, wavelength and velocity
You have seen that there is a useful connection between frequency,
wavelength and velocity that is true for all types of waves. You can
determine the relationship by means of a simple experiment using a rope
tied off at one end.
The faster the end of a rope is waggled, the shorter the wavelength of the
wave produced. That is, the higher the frequency of a wave the smaller
its wavelength.
If you measure the speed of the wave as it travels forward you will note
that it does not depend upon the speed with which the rope is waggled up
and down. You could check this with two identical ropes waggled at
different rates.
P Q
time = 0 second
crest A
vibrator
(3 Hz)
time = 1 second
Waves produced by waggling ropes at different rates.
Suppose your shaking produces waves of wavelength = 20 cm

travelling on a long rope and you find that three crests pass a certain
point, P every second. Then frequency, f = 3 Hz.
If crest A is at P at a particular time then 1 s later it will be at Q, a

distance 3 from P. That is,
3 x 20 = 60 cm from P.
60 cm
The speed of the wave, v = = 60 cm s1
1s
Therefore, the speed of wave = frequency wavelength
Part 1: Waves 49
v=f where v = velocity in ms1
f = frequency in Hz
= wavelength in m
The quantities v, and f are mutually interdependent. This is one of the

basic characteristics of all sorts of waves, including light and sound.
This relationship is called the wave equation.
1
Since the frequency is equal to the reciprocal of the period f = ,
T

then it follows that v = .
T
Wave velocity, v
Wave velocity, v, is taken to be that of any point on the waveform (for
example, a crest) and is measured in metres per second (ms1). This
means that:
distance travelled by a point on the waveform
velocity of a wave =
time taken to travel that distance
Although different kinds of waves may pass through the same material
their velocities are generally different because of the different physical
properties of the material that are involved in propagating them.
You may be interested in comparing the velocities of longitudinal,

transverse and electromagnetic waves through various media.
(Remember that electromagnetic waves include light, x-rays, and so on.)
Does the velocity of waves differ in different materials? ___________
Check your answer.
The table on the next page shows you how the velocity of waves varies in
different materials.

Material (medium) Velocity of longitudinal Velocity of transverse Velocity of electro
mechanical waves (ms1) mechanical waves (ms1) magnetic waves (ms1)
8
vacuum (no matter) waves not transmitted waves not transmitted
3.00 10
8
air (dry, 0C) 331 waves not transmitted
3.00 10
8
body of water 1 500 variable
2.25 10
8
crown glass 5 100 2 840
2.00 10
8
polystyrene 2 350 1 120
1.89 10
8
rubber 1 550 no figure available
1.73 10
steel 5 960 3 235 rays can penetrate
brass 4 700 2 110 rays can penetrate
lead 1 960 690 rays can penetrate
concrete 4 500 no figure available rays can penetrate
Use the information in the table above to answer the questions below.
1 Does the velocity of longitudinal mechanical waves vary in different
mediums? ____________________________________________
2 Does the velocity of transverse mechanical waves vary in different
mediums? ____________________________________________
3 Does the velocity of electromagnetic waves vary in different
mediums? ____________________________________________
4 Are longitudinal mechanical waves able to be transmitted in solids
and liquids? __________________________________________
5 Are transverse mechanical waves able to be transmitted in solids and
liquids? Explain your answer.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
6 Do electromagnetic waves travel with the same velocity in all
mediums? ____________________________________________
Check your answers.
Part 1: Waves 51
Using the wave equation
In this section you will practice using the wave equation v = f .

Sample problems follow and act as models of what you need to do.
The velocity of propagation of any periodic wave is related to the

frequency of vibration and the wavelength. This is shown in the equation
below.
wave velocity = frequency wavelength
v=f
Follow this worked example problem through.
Problem one
A plucked G-note on a guitar vibrates at a frequency of 384 Hz. What is

the wavelength of the resultant wave at 0C? Sound travels at a speed of
about 331 ms1 at 0C in air.
The wave equation enables us to calculate that the wavelength of that

note must be:
= vf
= 331/384
= 0.86 m
Complete this sentence by crossing out the incorrect term.
As the frequency of a wave increases the wavelength increases/decreases.
Check your answer.

Problem two
Calculate the frequency of a radio wave of wavelength 150 m. The

8
velocity of the radio wave (an electromagnetic wave) is 3 10 ms1.
The equation for the wave is c = f where:

8
c= 3 10 ms1
f= ? Hz
= 150 m
Substituting the values into the equation gives:

c =f
8
3 10 = f 150
8
f = 3 10 /150
6
= 2 10 Hz
= 2 MHz
The frequency of the radio wave is two megahertz.
Can you use the wave equation?

The problems that follow require you to use the wave equation to
determine the solution.
The wave equation says:
velocity = frequency wavelength
or
v=f

v=
T
Part 1: Waves 53
1 The frequency of a hand moving one end of a tied off rope is 4 Hz.
That is, the hand does 4 up-and-down motions each second. If the
waves produced measure ten centimetres from one crest to the next
crest, calculate the velocity of the waves along the rope.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2 The velocity of the tsunami, (a circular wave of water sent out from
the surface due to an underwater earthquake) observed in the Pacific
Ocean in 1946 after an earthquake was about 800 kmh1. The
frequency of oscillation of the surface due to these waves was about
once every 12 minutes. What was the wavelength of the tsunami
waves?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
3 The human ear can hear sound waves across the frequency range
a) 20 Hz and
b) 20 000 Hz.
What is the range of wavelengths the ear can detect if the speed of
sound is assumed to be 340 ms1?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Do Exercises 1.3 to 1.5 now.

Communication devices and waves
Consider the mobile telephone. Waves transfer a representation of the

sound energy of our voices across great distances, even around the world.
The figure below shows some of the energy transformations that occur in
a call from a mobile phone to a mobile phone.
sound vibrations
produced in the
larynx mechanical
energy
radio wave converted to
electrical energy then
sent to switching centre
radio wave
converted to an
electrical signal
at the antenna
connecting
wire
electrical signal
converted to
radio wave
mechanical energy
converted to
electrical energy
electrical signal
converted to
sound waves
radio wave converted

to an electrical signal
at the antenna
sound waves converted

to mechanical energy as
vibrations of the ear drum
The radio waves used in mobile phones are short wavelength radio waves
called microwaves.
Part 1: Waves 55
Identify the waves involved in the transfer of energy that occurs during the
use of the mobile phone to make a call to another mobile user.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
In the next part you will apply what you have learned by looking at the
properties of waves using sound as the wave type example.
You have finished the learning from Part 1 of the module. You should
now return your completed exercises to your teacher if you are a
Distance Education student. If you are an Open Learning Program
student you should refer to assignment 1 in your learners guide. By
doing these exercises you should learn whether or not you have
understood the main concepts and achieved the outcomes for this section
of the course.

Summary
Draw a concept map as a summary of the information you have learned

in this part on a separate sheet of paper. Try to connect ideas and facts
you have learned together with linking statements. Doing this will help
to consolidate the learning you have done in this part.
Complete the following statements.

1. Waves are carriers of ____________________________________
2 The motion of the particles or fields in a transverse wave are at___
degrees to the propagation direction.
3 The motion of the particles in a longitude wave are at __________
degrees to the propagation direction.
4 Define the following terms:
crest _____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
trough ___________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
amplitude_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
wavelength _______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
frequency_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
period ___________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Part 1: Waves 57
Suggested answers
Making a wave
1 Wave speed = 6 m 3 s
Wave speed = 2 ms1
2 The water particles.
Examples of waves as carriers of energy
1 Wave Type of energy carried or transferred
sound wave kinetic energy
water wave kinetic energy
earthquake kinetic energy
light wave electromagnetic energy
radio wave electromagnetic energy
microwaves in a microwave oven electromagnetic energy
infrared wave electromagnetic energy
ultraviolet wave electromagnetic energy
Part 1: Waves 59
2 Case Type of energy transferred
a surfer riding a wave kinetic energy
the stars at night electromagnetic energy
the stereo playing music at top volume sound energy (kinetic energy transferred
to particles)
an earthquake kinetic energy
3 The wave propagating forward carries energy with it. Without

energy transfer there is no wave.
Making waves in one dimension

1 Particles or segments of rope move up and down in a motion at 90
to the direction of wave travel. This compares to the pen and paper
where the pen moves at 90 to the direction of the paper travel. The
paper travel direction shows the path or trace of the wave and where
the wave has been.
2 The direction of vibration of individual particles is at 90 to the
direction of wave propagation in both cases. The shape of the wave
form produced in both cases is similar.
3 You can only see the disturbance moving forward with the rope or
the spring whereas you see the trace of the disturbance with the pen
and paper.
Waves in two dimensions

The angle between the direction of propagation of the wave and flow of
energy is always at 90 to the wavefronts.
Drawing waves, rays and wavefronts

A large distance from the source because the wavefront represents such a
small segment of arc that it appears as a straight line.
Similarities and differences

1 All carry energy away from the wave source.
2 They travel out from the source in three dimensions. These waves
are multidirectional. Their wavefronts form a sphere

Frequency and wavelength
1 The feature that changes is the frequency.
2 The feature that changes is the amplitude of the wave.
3 The feature of the wave that changes is the wavelength.
Frequency in water waves

Reduces the chance of error. Increases reliability.
How can waves be classified?
Electromagnetic waves can travel in a vacuum. true
Mechanical waves can travel in a vacuum. false
Transverse waves are only ever electromagnetic false

waves.
Longitudinal waves can be electromagnetic waves. false
A longitudinal wave can travel in a vacuum. false
Electromagnetic waves
1 Wavelength increases going from gamma rays to radio waves.
2 Since the velocity is constant for electromagnetic waves in any one
medium then an increase in wavelength must result in a decrease in
frequency and a decrease in wavelength must result in an increase in
frequency.
Simple harmonic motion

1 At the crest the particles speed is zero; acceleration is maximum;
and displacement from rest point is maximum.
At the level of no disturbance the particles speed is maximum;
acceleration is zero; and displacement from the rest point is zero.
At the trough the particles speed is zero; acceleration is maximum;
and displacement from rest point is negative maximum.
2 The amplitude is 3 m.
Part 1: Waves 61
Amplitude of a wave
The three curves shown all have the same wavelength and the same
frequency. The curves differ in the way they look because the amplitude
or distance from the zero level of particle disturbance is larger or smaller.
This is represented by the value of the number multiplying the sin x.
This number is the amplitude of the wave.
What does frequency mean?

1 Amplitudes are the same because the wave heights are the same.
2 Wavelengths are different.
3 Number of wavelengths to pass a point per second.
4 (a) As the frequency increases the wavelength
decreases if the wave has a constant velocity.
(b) As the wavelength decreases the frequency
increases if the wave has a constant velocity.
Wave velocity
Yes, velocity differs between materials.
1 Yes
2 Yes
3 Yes
4 Yes
5 No. Not in liquids and gases.
6 No
Using the wave equation

As the frequency of a wave increases the wavelength decreases.
Can you use the wave equation?

1 = 10cm
f = 4Hz
v = f
v = 4 10
v = 40cms 1

2 v=f
v
=
f
v = 800kmh 1
f = 5h
-1
800
=
5
= 160 km
3 a v= f
v
=
f
340
=
20
= 17 m
b v= f
v
=
f
340
=
20000
= 0.017 m
Part 1: Waves 63
Exercises - Part 1
Exercises 1.1 to 1.6 Name: _________________________________
Exercise 1.1
Refer to the figure below.
c
b d direction of wave
A
a e i
undisturbed
f h
g
a) What does the distance a to i represent on the wave?

_____________________________________________________
b) What does the length A represent?
_____________________________________________________
c) Draw second wave with a wavelength half as long as the one drawn
above.
d) Label a crest and trough on the wave you have drawn.
Part 1: Waves 65
Exercise 1.2
Identify the following waves as either transverse or longitudinal.
a) Sound _____________________________________________________
b) Ripples on the surface of a pond ______________________________
c) Radio waves _______________________________________________
d) Light waves ________________________________________________
Exercise 1.3
a) If sound travels in air at 330 ms1, and a tuning fork vibrates at
256 Hz, calculate the wavelength of the sound.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
b) Calculate the frequency of a 200 m radio wave given that its speed
of propagation is 3.0 108 ms1.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Exercise 1.4
A single mechanical wave is represented by the following two
graphs. Read the axes carefully!
1
displacement (m)
2 4 6
0
time (s)
1
displacement (m)
1 2 3
0
distance (m)
Use the two graphs to calculate:

a) the amplitude of the wave ___________________________________
b) the wavelength _____________________________________________
c) the period _________________________________________________
Calculate the velocity ___________________________________________
Part 1: Waves 67
Exercise 1.5
a) Name your favourite radio station. What is the frequency of your
favourite radio station? [This will be in kHz or MHz]
______________________________________________________
b) Calculate the wavelength of these radio waves from your favourite
radio station knowing that its radio waves travel at the speed of
light? (Assume the speed of light to be 3 108 ms1.)
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Exercise 1.6
In the syllabus you are required to plan and choose equipment for and
perform a first-hand investigation to gather information to identify the
relationship between frequency and wavelength of a wave.
After looking back through the activities in the module you should:
Write down how you would do this.
Do the investigation you have planned.
Write down your conclusions.
Submit your results, conclusions and observations with these return
sheets to your teacher.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

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Physics
Preliminary Course
Stage 6

Part 2: Sound waves
0 2
20
b er
c to T S
g O EN
a t in D M
o r EN
p
or AM
I n c
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 2
Sound wave properties.............................................................. 3
What are sound waves? ......................................................................3
Sound generation...................................................................... 5
How does sound travel? ......................................................................5
Does sound need a medium?..............................................................7
Comparing waves...................................................................... 9
Compression and transverse waves .................................................10
Can you see sound waves? .................................................... 11
Sound waves and frequency .............................................................12
Volume and amplitude .......................................................................13
Summary................................................................................. 15
Suggested answers................................................................. 17
Exercises Part 2 ................................................................... 19
Appendix ................................................................................. 25
Part 2: Sound waves 1

Introduction
This part enables you to link observations of the properties of sound

waves to the properties possessed by other waves important in
communication.
In this part you will be given opportunities to learn to:

identify that sound waves are vibrations or oscillations of particles in
a medium
relate compressions and rarefractions of sound waves to the crest and
troughs of transverse waves
explain qualitatively that pitch is related to frequency and volume to
amplitude of sound waves
In this part you will be given an opportunity to:

perform a firsthand investigation to gather information about the
frequency and wavelength of waves using an oscilloscope or
electronic datalogging equipment
plan, chose equipment for and perform a firsthand investigation to
gather information to identify the relationship between the
frequency and wavelength of a sound wave travelling at a constant
velocity
perform a firsthand investigation and gather information to analyse
sound wave forms from a variety of sources using the cathode ray
oscilloscope (CRO) or an alternative computer technology.
Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, amended October
2002. The original and most uptodate version of this document can be found on the
Boards website at

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Sound wave properties
Sound waves can be used to illustrate the properties of waves used in

communication.
In Part 1 you learned what waves are, how to describe waves and some
of the properties that waves have. Now you will learn how wave
properties are able to be determined using sound waves as the example of
a wave type. Many of the properties of all waves can be shown with
sound waves.
What are sound waves?

Sound waves are pressure changes or fluctuations that are produced by a
vibrating source. This source produces compressions (zones where the
particles are pushed together) and rarefactions (zones where the particles
are spread apart) in materials.
In an undisturbed medium the particles are randomly and evenly

distributed. Materials in which sound could propagate could include the
particles in a gas, liquid, solid or a composite material made up of
particles in a number of states. Usually you think about sound travelling
in a gaseous medium (such as air).
The figure below shows you a sound wave propagating forward as a

series of compressions (where the particles are closer together) and
rarefactions (where the particles are further apart). The wavelength of
these waves is shown.
A sound propagates forward as a series of compressions and rarefactions. The

wavelength is shown, .

1 Is the vibration of the particle shown in the figure above representing a
sound wave in the same direction as the wave propagation or is it at 90
to the propagation direction?
_____________________________________________________
2 Cross out the incorrect response in the sentence below:
Sound is therefore a longitudinal/transverse wave.
Check your answers
There are many sites on the Internet that deal with sound waves
propagating forward as a series of high pressure pulses.
For more information on how to search the internet see the Resource
booklet.
Look at some information and animations that relate to sound wave

propagation on the Physics website page.
Hearing sound
You hear sound because when pressure fluctuations reach your ear drum
the compressions push the ear drum in (high pressure zone) and the
rarefactions allow the eardrum to flex out (low pressure zone).
This is more fully explained with an animated figure found on the Internet.
Look at some information and animations that relate to sound waves and
hearing on the Physics website page.

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Sound generation
You can feel sound being generated! Try the following activity.
Turn a stereo volume up loud and feel the air in front of the speaker.
You can feel the pressure of the moving air in front of the speaker cone.
This sound wave can produce a feeling of motion or a push on your
hand in the same direction as the sound waves are moving, that is out
from the speaker.
Strike the prongs of a tuning fork and feel the prongs. Are they
vibrating in the same direction as the sound waves are moving?
Find out by listening to a tuning fork held next to your ear and
changing its orientation by rotating it.
Put your hand on your throat and talk or yell. You can feel your
vocal chords in your larynx (voice box) vibrating.
You can see a sound wave produced by a tuning fork travelling in the same
direction as the vibration of a tuning fork as an animation on the Physics
website. http://www.lmpc.edu.au/science
How does sound travel?

In sound waves, the molecules of any elastic medium vibrate parallel to the
direction of wave travel. The particles move only a little distance from their
original positions. They collide with neighbouring molecules and so transfer
the vibratory energy through the medium.
Its the disturbance that constitutes the wave and its the disturbance that
travels and carries the energy. The individual molecules pretty much stay
put, just as the individual coils on the slinky spring stay close to where they
began in the slinky version of the longitudinal wave even though the wave
flashes by.
If you yell a short blasting beep, the pressure pulse of crowded molecules
created will push on the next layer of molecules and then the next and so on.

In that way the disturbance will move out as a wave from you, propagating on
its own across the room, just as the pulse moved along the spring.
Anyone down range who happens to pick up a little of that wavefront receives
energy that will set their ear drum vibrating in step. That is, they hear
the beep.
Longitudinal waves require a medium to travel from place to place. For

sound this is often air but sound waves can also travel through liquids
and solids.
Sound travels through liquids

A listening device on another ship or surface vessel can detect a submerged
submarine. For this reason it is critical that submarines, as ships of war, are
designed to run as quietly as possible.
Sound also travels through solids

Examples include:
An approaching train may be heard more than two kilometres away by
placing one end of a metal rod on the railway line and the other end on
the ear. The sound vibrations caused by the train in the rail lines travel
through the rod to the ear.
People buried alive in collapsed buildings following disasters like
earthquakes are often found because they tap solid objects close to them.
That sound of tapping travels through the solids to reach the surface.
Tapping takes much less energy than yelling and the sound from the
tapping transfers much faster through solids.

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Does sound need a medium?

Place a vibrating objet producing sound in an evacuated container.
What happens?
You can see how sound depends on a medium in order to propagate if you
do the following experiment. You may do this with your teacher at your
practical session.
Set up the equipment as shown in the diagram below.
Put a bell jar (a large bottle with no bottom in it) on a sheet of glass and
seal around it with Vaseline or grease so that no air can leak through the
base of the bell jar.
Evacuate the air from the bell jar by connecting it to a vacuum pump.
An electric bell is suspended by the circuit wires. These wires pass

through a rubber stopper into the bell jar.
to vacuum pump
Experimental set up to sound in an evacuated container.
At your practical session with your teacher you might see this happen.
When the bell is switched on before the air is evacuated it can be
heard ringing easily.

As the air is gradually withdrawn from the bell jar by the vacuum
pump the volume of sound from the bell decreases.
A point is reached when the clapper on the bell is seen to be
vibrating but hardly any sound is heard until air is allowed to
reenter the bell jar.
Without the presence of air sound from the bell can only reach the
outside through the wires and vibrating jar.
1 What does this say about sounds ability to travel in a lack of a medium
such as air?
_____________________________________________________
2 Do you think sound could travel through the vacuum of outer space?
Explain you answer.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Check your answers.

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Comparing waves
Can you relate the compressions and rarefactions of sound to the crests
and troughs of a transverse wave?
The compressions (C) of a longitudinal wave such as sound are

equivalent to the crests (C) of a transverse wave. These are both
amplitude maxima.
The rarefactions (R) of a longitudinal wave are equivalent to the troughs

(T) of a transverse wave. These are both amplitude minima. This
relationship is shown on the following figure.
R R
C C
T T
Transverse and longitudinal wave features are compared. Rarefactions (R) and
troughs (T) are equivalent. Compressions and crests (C) are also equivalent.

Compression and transverse waves
The figure on the next page shows a representation of a sound wave.
Draw a graph of the pressure versus position for this longitudinal wave in
the space beneath the wave.
The pressure is highest where the particles are closest together.
The pressure is lowest where the particles are furthest apart.
Sound wave showing compressions and rarefactions. Wavelengths () are

shown.
Representing compression waves

Compression waves are often represented as transverse waves in
diagrams. This is true of sound in particular. The reason is probably
because transverse waves look more like water waves that people can
relate to. The diagram below of the slinky spring shows a longitudinal
wave pulse propagating.
Draw an equivalent transverse wave to represent each of the situations
depicted in the three diagrams.
compression
rarefaction
rarefaction compression
rest compression

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Can you see sound waves?
The obvious answer is no, but if you use a cathode ray oscilloscope you
can see a pictorial representation of a sound wave on a screen. When
you go to your practical session with your teacher you may use a cathode
ray oscilloscope (CRO) to look at sound waves.
The sound wave energy is converted into an electrical signal by a

microphone in a similar manner to the way a speaker in a mobile
telephone. This signal is fed into a CRO input where it produces a curve
on a screen. The microphone in this activity acts a data collector to
produce an electrical signal.
You are required to perform a firsthand investigation and gather

information to analyse sound wave forms from a variety of sources using
the cathode ray oscilloscope (CRO) or a form of computer technology
called a digital oscilloscope.
You can complete this activity by using a digital oscilloscope program that
you can download from the Internet. Alternatively, it can be done when you
go to your practical session with your teacher. To see a site where you can
down load a digital oscilloscope program see a site on the physics link page
at: http://www.lmpc.edu.au/science
If you are able to download a program from the Internet to analyse sound
waves you will need to use a microphone to input the sound signal to
your computer. If you do not have a microphone you might be able to
plug the headphones from a personal stereo into the input jack of your
computer marked for use with a microphone and use the headphone
speaker as a microphone. Usually the sensitivity of such a
speaker/microphone is lower, but it will still work. Why this works will
be explained when you do a later module.
In the section that follows there are some computer screen captures of
traces from the screen of an oscilloscope that may be similar to traces
you will see when you do your practical session. In these traces the
horizontal axis of the trace represents time. The vertical axis of the trace
represents the amplitude of the sound wave producing the sound.

Sound waves and frequency
The higher the frequency of a sound the more waves that will pass a
point in a second and the higher the pitch of the sound. If you are
looking at the screen trace of sound waves of different pitch and the CRO
settings are identical then the higher pitched sound will have more
wavelengths on a trace.
A CRO trace of a 320 Hz tuning fork sound wave.
A tuning fork trace of a 256 Hz tuning fork sound wave.

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Note that the second trace has fewer full wavelengths showing on the
screen trace indicating that a lower frequency sound produced the trace.
Do Exercise 2.2 to 2.6 now.
Volume and amplitude

The greater the volume of a sound of a particular frequency the greater is
the sounds amplitude.
CRO trace of a high volume 256 Hz tuning fork note.
As you can see the amplitude of the wave above is much greater than the amplitude
of the wave below. This is because the amplitude of the noise from the tuning fork
above was greater than the amplitude of the note from the same tuning fork shown in
the figure on the next page.

CRO trace of a low volume 256 Hz tuning fork note.
Do Exercises 2.7 to 2.10 now.
Now that you have learned some more about the properties of sound
waves you will learn to apply this knowledge in another part where you
will look how wave properties have been used to aid communication
using electromagnetic waves.

Summary
Sound waves are longitudinal waves.

Compressions are equivalent to crests.
Rarefactions are equivalent to troughs.
High pitched sounds have high frequency.
Low pitched sounds have low frequency.
Loud sound waves have large amplitudes.
Soft sound waves have small amplitudes.
Sound waves can be seen using a CRO.

Suggested answers
Here are suggested answers for many of the questions from throughout
this part. Your answers should be similar to these answers. If your
answers are very different or if you do not understand an answer, contact
your teacher.
What are sound waves?

1 Same direction.
2 Sound is therefore a longitudinal wave.
Does sound need a medium?

1 Sound cannot travel in a lack of a medium.
2 Not if space is a vacuum, because vacuum implies a complete lack
of a medium.

Exercises - Part 2
now complete the send in exercise and return it to your teacher if you are
a Distance Education student. By doing these exercises you should learn
whether or not you have understood the main concepts taught, and
achieved the outcomes for this section of the course. Your teacher will
send comments back to you to help you achieve any outcomes you are
not currently achieving.
On the next few pages are some computer screen captures of traces from
the screen of an oscilloscope that may be similar to those you will see
when you do your practical session. Answer the questions that follow by
referring to these traces.
Trace1: CRO trace produced by a 256 Hz tuning fork placed about 10 cm from
the microphone.

Exercise 2.1
Draw a pattern of compressions and rarefactions that would match this
trace (Trace 1) in the space below. Use lines close together to represent
compressions and lines further apart to represent a rarefaction.
Exercise 2.2
How would you describe this wave trace (Trace 1) in terms of the size of
each crest and trough? You can use a ruler to measure the amplitudes of
the waves.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Trace 2 CRO trace produced by a 512 Hz tuning fork placed about 10 cm from
the microphone.

Exercise 2.3
Do you think this trace (Trace 2) would represent a regular or irregular
sound? Why do you think this?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Trace 2 is the trace produced by a 512 Hz tuning fork held about 10 cm

from the microphone. All settings on the oscilloscope are constant in the
production of this trace (Trace 2) and the previous trace (Trace 1). Only
the tuning fork producing the trace is different.
Exercise 2.4
What differences can you see between these two traces? Focus on the
prominent features of the wave traces (wavelength, frequency, and
amplitude).
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 2.5
Explain these differences in the wave traces.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 2.6
How does the number of wavelengths on the previous two figures
compare? Is it double for the 512 Hz tuning fork trace?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Look at the two traces from a CRO on the next page. Both Trace 3 and
Trace 4 are traces of sound produced by a 512 Hz tuning fork. The
settings on the CRO were identical and the tuning fork was held at
exactly the same distance from the microphone in each case. The time

elapsed between striking each tuning fork when the CRO traces were
recorded was identical. Using this information, do Exercise 2.7 to
Exercise 2.10.
Trace 3 Trace from a CRO of sound produced by a 512 Hz tuning fork.
Trace 4 Trace from a CRO of sound produced by a 512 Hz tuning fork.

Exercise 2.7
How do the frequencies of these two wave traces compare? Explain your
answer.
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_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 2.8
Explain why the second wave trace has a smaller amplitude than the first
wave trace?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 2.9
How do you think you could produce similar traces to these? Remember
you cannot adjust the CRO settings and must only use one tuning fork.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Note: For a certain type of wave such as a sound wave travelling in a
fixed medium, changing the amplitude of the wave does not
change the speed of the wave in that medium and changing the
frequency of the wave will not change the speed of the wave in
that medium.
For example, loud sounds travel at the same speed as soft sounds
even though they have different amplitudes, and high frequency
sounds travel at the same speed as low frequency sounds if the
sound is travelling in a medium with constant properties.

Exercise 2.10
What implications does this information have in determining the
wavelength of sound in a medium of constant properties if you change
the frequency?
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_________________________________________________________

Appendix

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Physics
Preliminary Course
Stage 6

Part 3: Superposition
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................ 2
Adding sound waves.................................................................. 3
Superposition .......................................................................................5
Complex waves ......................................................................... 9
Same note? ........................................................................................10
What is an echo?..................................................................... 12
How can echoes be used? ................................................................13
Reflecting sound ................................................................................14
Superposition of echoes ....................................................................14
Summary ................................................................................. 16
Exercises Part 3 ................................................................... 19
Part 3: Superposition 1
Introduction
In the previous parts of this module you have learned about the some of
the properties of waves. In this part you will learn about the properties of
waves necessary to convert a wave to a signal that can carry a message.
In doing this you will learn how waves can be added to produce complex
waves or annulment.

describe the principle of superposition and compare the resulting
waves to the original waves in sound
explain an echo as a reflection of a sound wave

perform a firsthand investigation, gather, process and present
information using a CRO or computer to demonstrate the principle
of superposition for two waves travelling in the same medium
perform a firsthand investigation and gather information to analyse
sound wave forms from a variety of sources using the Cathode Ray
Oscilloscope (CRO) or an alternate computer technology
present graphical information, solve problems and analyse
information involving superposition of waves.

October 2002. The original and most uptodate version of this document can
be found on the Boards website at

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Adding sound waves
Sound waves can be used to illustrate properties of waves that are used in
communication technologies.
Can you add sound waves together? What do you think this means? Do
you think this can be done?
You are required to perform a firsthand investigation, gather, process
and present information using a CRO or computer to demonstrate the
principle of superposition for two waves travelling in the same medium.
The tuning fork notes you saw in the previous CRO traces were pure
tones. A pure tone is one that consists of a single frequency. Most
sounds you hear are not pure tones. They are made by combining two or
more pure tone sound waves together. The resulting sound can be very
complicated and so is a complex wave. The following screen traces
from a CRO show you the sort of results you might get from adding two
waves together.
The CRO trace above was made using a 384 Hz tuning fork. This is a pure
tone.
The CRO trace above was made using a 512 Hz tuning fork. This is a pure
tone.
The CRO trace above was made from adding the sound from the 384 Hz tuning
fork and the 512 Hz tuning fork. This is a complex wave.

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As you can see the addition of the two sounds made a great difference to
the shape of the CRO trace. The trace is a picture of the combined
sound. The wave form is now more complex.
Some of the features of this combined sound you can see on the CRO
trace include:
the loss of the regular sine wave shape
the loss of a large part of the amplitude in sections of the combined
wave. In other sections the wave amplitude is higher than that of
either of the two original waves.
Superposition
Changes in the wave trace above are due to the superposition of the
different waves. This means that the displacements of the different
waves at individual points in time have been added.
If the displacements of the separate waves are opposite (for example

a crest from one wave is added to the trough of another) at the same time
then the resulting displacement at that point will be lower. If the waves
have two crests or two troughs coinciding at that point, then the
amplitude of the wave will be bigger at the time when the waves are
added.
The addition of waves by superposition is shown animated at a number of

websites. Look at some pages that show information about superposition on
the Physics website page:
How to add waves together

The figure below shows the superposition of two waves y1 = 2sin x and
y2 = 3sin x. These, when added, produce the new wave represented by
y3 = 5sin x. Using graph paper makes the addition of waves simpler.
If you have a graphing calculator or have downloaded one from the

Internet you should check the results in the figure below by adding the
waves together. This calculator procedure will only work when you can
enter the equations representing the waveforms to be added.
On the diagrams below the horizontal axis is marked in units called

radians. There are 2 radians in one whole wavelength.
y
y1 = 2 sin x
2.0
1.7
1.7
1.0
0 1.0 3
2 x
1.7
2
1.7
2
1.0
1.0
2.0
y2 = 3 sin x
3.0
2.6
2.6
1.5
1.5
0
3 2 x
1.5
1.5
2 2
2.6
2.6
3.0
y3 = 5 sin x
5.0
4.3
4.3
2.5
2.5
0
3 2 x
2 2
2.5
2.5
4.3
4.3
5.0
Superposition of two waves to form a third different wave.

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The effect of the addition of waves can result in lower amplitude waves
or higher amplitude waves. In the example on page 6, you saw two
waves added to produce a resultant wave with an amplitude larger than
either of the individual waves. But if the amplitude of the crest of one
wave is precisely equal to the amplitude of the trough of another wave
(that is, superposition of two identical waves a half wavelength out of
phase), then annulment or complete loss of amplitude in the wave can
occur.
In the case of sound waves this means it is possible to add sounds

together to produce no sound. Alternatively if troughs coincide with
troughs and crests coincide with crests then the amplitude of the wave at
that point will be increased. The sound produced by superposition will
be louder.
Given two (or more) waves the resultant wave can be determined by
graphing. To do this you must add individual displacements at various
points in a systematic way.
You can see this mathematically using the example from the
previous page.
Using the principle of superposition

You are required to present graphical information, solve problems and
analyse information involving the superposition of waves.
This is most easily accomplished using a graphing calculator. You can,

however, add waves together using graph paper.
On the next page is a diagram showing two waves drawn on graph paper.
Add the two waves in the diagram on page 8 graphically and then draw the
resultant wave.
Complete this self correcting activity on the next page before attempting the
send in exercises.
y
y1 = 1.5 sin x
1.5
1.3
1.3
0.75
0.75
0
1.3
1.3
2 x
1.5
0.75
0.75
y2 = 2.5 cos x
2.5
2.5
2.2
2.2
1.25
1.25
2
0
x
2.2
2.2
2.5
1.25
1.25
Check your answer.

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Complex waves
As you probably know, most waves in the real world are not pure tones.
They are complex waves. Complex waves can always be broken down
into a series of simple sine waves of different wavelengths and
amplitudes. Of course, this is more easily said than done by us visually
but it is possible for us to see how easily complex waves can be built up
from the superposition of simpler ones.
wave1
wave 2
wave 3
wave 4 = wave 1 + wave 2 +wave 3
Superposition of waves 1, 2 and 3 producing a complex wave number 4.
The human ear passes complex sounds on to the brain. The brain can
separate out simpler waves or individual notes or sounds from complex
waves. You do this when you hear a sound and separate it out from
background noise. The previous figure shows how a complex wave can
be built up from adding relatively simple sine waves.
Superposition of waves can cause waves to cancel out. For example, you
can get dead spots in a room when you play a single note through stereo
speakers. As you move around the room where the note is being played
you will notice that the sound has different intensities in different
locations within the room.
Why do you think this is so?

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
To see how sound waves can add to produce a lower volume (called active
sound absorption) you can visit some Internet websites. Look at some web
pages that relate to active sound absorption at the Physics website
links page.
Some voice recognition techniques use the principle of superposition

extensively. In forensics it is used to identify people; by security it is
used to open doors; and by banks it is used to allow a code to operate
accounts. These techniques work on the idea of waves adding to cancel
each other out.
Same note?
Often the same note played by different instruments has the same
frequency but they don't sound the same. This difference in sound is
called the timbre of the note.
The diagram opposite shows the CRO traces of the same note played by
different instruments: a violin, guitar, cello and flute. Each trace
represents a record of exactly the same time interval.
You may be able to record traces similar to the ones shown at your
practical session with your teacher. Notice the waveforms or shapes are
not the same. This explains the characteristic timbre of the instrument
making the sound.

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violin
guitar
cello
flute
CRO traces of the same note played by different instruments. Note the
differences in the waveforms.
1 From looking at the features of the CRO traces how do you know the
same note is represented in each of these traces?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2 If the trace time shown represents approximately 0.0185 s what is
the most likely frequency of the note being played to present these
traces (256 Hz, 512 Hz, 384 Hz or 320 Hz)? Explain your answer.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
3 Why do you think the shapes of the waves in the previous diagram
are not identical even though they are representing the same note?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
What is an echo?
You have already learned that sound waves can be added. Now you will
learn that sound waves have other properties, one of which is reflection.
Everybody has heard an echo. It is simply sound bouncing back at you.

If you yell at a brick wall or a cliff face of bare rock the sound of your
own voice comes back at you. You dont get to hear the full sound or
range of everything youve said but you do get the tail of the last word.
For example if you yell a word such as echo you will hear the o at the
end of the word. The further you are from the wall the more of the tail of
the word you hear as an echo. If you are too close to the wall the echo is
lost because you drown it out with the sound of your voice.
You need to have a time lag between the bounced back signal and the
source to enable you to hear an echo. This lag time is around 0.1 s. If
sound is travelling around 340 ms1 this means you must be at least 17 m
from the surface you are bouncing the sound off to hear the echo. This
distance enables the sound to be bounced back at you with the 0.1 s time
delay because it will take the sound wave 0.05 s to reach the wall from
your mouth and 0.05 s to bounce back from the wall.
Sound is reflected when it hits a solid object. Notice the phase changes on
reflection
Find a flat brick wall or cliff face not covered in loose material and walk
different distances from it yelling at the wall.

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1 At what distance from the reflective surface can you hear the first echo?
_____________________________________________________
2 What is an echo? Use examples in your answer.
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
How can echoes be used?

The use of echoes to determine the distance to objects has developed into
part of our everyday life. Sound waves of high pitch are emitted from a
source and bounce back from objects where they are detected by
pressuresensitive detectors. These pick up the sound reflection.
The detectors are designed to time the reflection very precisely.

The time it takes to receive the reflected wave or echo can be used to
calculate distance to the object. This is because assumptions are made
about the velocity of the sound in the medium.
This method of detecting distance is used in sonic tape measures, sonic

rangers, sonar, depth finders on boats, and sonic level controllers in
industry that tell you how full storage tanks are. You may use a sonic
ranger attached to a data logging computer later in this course when you
come to your practical session in the study of motion.
Reflecting sound
You will use two glasses or two cups to reflect sound into one ear in this
activity.
Talk into one cup held about 10 cm from your mouth while holding the
other cup about 5 cm from your ear angled towards the ear.
By adjusting the positions of the cups you can reflect the sound from the cup
you are talking into to the cup next to your ear. The sound from the
collecting cup will then reflect into your ear. This will result in you hearing
a louder sound in the ear next to the cup.
1 Do you think that the angles of the cups with respect to one another are
important for getting the loudest sound in your ear? Hint: Think about
the angles of the cups where you hear the sound at its loudest.
_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2 Do you think there are any similarities between sound reflected off
the bottom of the cups or glasses and the reflection of light from a
mirror?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Check your answer.
Superposition of echoes
Occasionally you will find a canyon or steepsided valley where you can
yell into the valley and the echo will be heard many times. This occurs
because the sound isnt reflected straight back but rather at an angle and
then onto other surfaces, in much the same way as light coming into a
mirror at an angle. The multiple paths of the echo result in multiple path
lengths.
Because the speed of sound in the medium is a constant, multiple echoes

mean multiple times for the reflected sound to get back to you. This
means you hear multiple echoes of the same original sound.

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Try this activity the next time you are in a building several stories high.
Yell in a closed off stairwell of a large building. You will hear echoes as the
sound bounces around in the stairwell.
Ask a friend to stand at one position in the stairwell and sing a single note
while you walk up or down stairs. You may find dead spots where the
volume of the sound decreases.
1 What do you think causes these dead spots where the sound volume
falls?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2 Usually in a stairwell the sound waves interfere with each other and
the echo is muffled and not as clear as if it bounced off a cliff face or
brick wall. You cant usually clearly hear any words bounced back.
Have you noticed this? Can you explain why this might be?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
In the next part you will look at how wave properties have been used to
aid communication using electromagnetic waves.
now return your completed send in exercises and return them to your
teacher. By doing these exercises you should learn whether or not you
have understood the main concepts taught, and achieved the outcomes
for this section of the course. This communication is essential so your
teacher can assist you to progress through the course. Remember, your
teacher is available to assist.
Summary
In this section you should prepare a summary of the information you

have learned in this part. You should make the summary using the
headings used in the unit as a guide. You should also consider how the
work in this part connects to the work in the previous parts of
the module.
Adding sound waves
Super position
Complex waves
Same note
What is a echo
How can echoes be used?
Reflecting sound

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Suggested answers
Using the principle of superposition

y
y1 = 1.5 sin x
1.5
1.3
1.3
0.75
0.75
0
1.3
1.3 2 x
1.5
0.75
0.75
y2 = 2.5 cos x
2.5
2.5
2.2
2.2
1.25
1.25
2
0
x
2.2
2.2
2.5
1.25
1.25
y3 = y1 + y2
2
0
x
Complex waves
This is because in some places in the room the echo from the walls and
sound waves from the speakers superpose to produce annulment. At
other spots the sound waves superpose to produce sound of higher
amplitude.
Same note?
1 Same frequency in each case.
2 320 Hz because if 6 Hz (or full wavelengths)shown on the trace are
in 0.0185 s then approximately 324 Hz in 1 s.
3 Different timbre of the notes from each instrument.
What is an echo?
1 About 16.5 to 17 m.
2 A reflection of sound waves. A sonic ranger, a human voice
bounced back from a wall, sonar and ultrasound imaging are all
examples of echoes.
Reflecting sound
1 Yes. There is only one angle where the sound is at its loudest.
2 Yes. A similar situation happens with reflected light.
1 Superposition to produce a wave of zero amplitude at the dead spots.
2 Sound bounced back interferes with sound propagating forward
resulting in superposition of the reflected and incident waves.
That produces a muffled sound.

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Exercises - Part 3
Exercise 3.1
In a region affected by two waves, one particular particle at one instant
would be displaced 0.4 m up by one wave and 0.6 m down by the other
wave if both waves were considered separately. What is the actual
displacement of this particle?
Exercises 3.2
There are three waves shown in the figure below.
two waves with

zero phase diference
displacement
resultant
waves
distance
If the first two waves are added would they result in the third?
Explain your answer.
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_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

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Exercises 3.3
On the graph paper below draw the resultant wave produced by the
superposition of the following sine waves, A and B. Wave A has
amplitude 3 cm and wavelength 4 cm. Wave B has amplitude 1 cm and
wavelength 8 cm. You will need to draw two cycles of wave A.
Label waves A and B and the resultant clearly on your diagram.
Exercises 3.4
If the resultant waveform in the example below, where two waves with a
half wavelength phase difference are superposed, was a sound wave,
how loud would the sound be?
two waves with

phase difference
2
displacement
resultant
waves
distance
_________________________________________________________
In this Physics course you are required to perform a firsthand

investigation and gather information to analyse sound wave forms from a
variety of sources using the cathode ray oscilloscope (CRO.
The trace from a CRO provides us with a snapshot of a wave. You must
remember the wave shown on the traces presented to you in this module
represents a grab of around 0.05 s. These small grabs can show us many
of the features of the sound. To analyse a whole sentence or even a
complete word of more than one syllable is a complex procedure
although one that is routinely done by sound engineers in the recording
industry. The traces shown below offer you an opportunity to analyse
some relatively simple sounds.

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Exercises 3.5
A 256 Hz tuning fork trace.
How would you describe this CRO trace in terms of the regularity of the
wave?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercises 3.6
This CRO trace below is from a 384 Hz tuning fork. The settings on the
CRO were identical to the trace shown above. The position of the two
tuning forks from the microphone collecting the sound was identical.
A 384 Hz tuning fork trace.
What is the difference between the 256 Hz tuning fork CRO and the 384
Hz CRO trace in terms of the number of wavelengths per second?
_________________________________________________________
Exercises 3.7
Compare the sound loudness level of the 256 Hz and 384 Hz tuning forks
shown in the traces above. Which one would be louder? Why?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

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Exercises 3.8
This CRO trace was made when the sound from the 384 Hz tuning fork
and the 256 Hz tuning fork was added. This wave is now a more
complex wave. The CRO settings used were identical to the settings
used on the previous examples.
A complex wave made from a 256 Hz and 384 Hz tuning fork wave.
a) Explain why this CRO trace is different to that of the two sounds
from which it is made.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
b) Would this sound be more similar to that produced by the 256 Hz

tuning fork or the 384 Hz tuning fork? Explain your answer.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
c) What features can you see in this complex wave that suggest it is
made from more than one pure waveform?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
d) Can you offer an explanation for why the amplitude of the

combined waveform is lower than the original two CRO wave traces
at some points along the trace path?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Exercises 3.9
What does the trace of a human voice look like?
The CRO trace produced by a man saying the sound of the letter A.

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The CRO trace above is that produced by a woman saying the sound of the
letter A.
In looking at the two traces you may notice some similarities.
a) Would you say the sound of the human voice represents a simple or
a complex waveform? Explain your answer based on the shape of
the CRO traces shown above.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
b) What are the similarities you can see between the two CRO traces?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
c) What are the differences you can see between the two CRO traces?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
d) Explain the similarities or differences in terms of sound loudness and
pitch.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
e) Which one of these voices do you think most closely approximates a

pure tone?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
f) Do you think the man or woman has the lower pitched voice?
Propose a reason for your answer based on the CRO traces only.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
g) Would you say these traces are of a simple or of a complex wave

made up of many pure tones? Explain your answer.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

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Physics
Preliminary Course
Stage 6

Part 4: Electromagnetic waves
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................ 2
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?..................................... 3
Sources of electromagnetic radiation..................................................3
Communication devices.......................................................................8
The basic categories..........................................................................10
Intensity of electromagnetic waves.......................................... 12
Why is attenuation important?...........................................................12
The inverse square law......................................................................13
Modulation ............................................................................... 18
Kinds of modulation ...........................................................................19
Microwaves are also modulated........................................................22
Appendix.................................................................................. 25
Exercises Part 4 ................................................................... 31
Part 4: Electromagnetic waves 1

Introduction
In this part you will identify the methods used to communicate with
electromagnetic waves. As well, you will learn about the role wave
properties have in enabling the encoding of the signal onto the bands of the
electromagnetic spectrum that are predominantly used in
communication systems.
In this part you will have the opportunities to learn to:

describe electromagnetic waves in terms of their speed in space and their
lack of requirement of a medium for propagation
identify the electromagnetic wavebands filtered out by the atmosphere,
especially UV, Xrays and gamma rays
identify methods of detection of wave bands in the electromagnetic
spectrum
explain the relationship between the light intensity and the distance from
source is an example of the inverse square law
1
I
d2
outline how the modulation of amplitude and frequency of visible light,
microwaves and/or radio waves can be used to transmit information
discuss the problems produced by the limited range of the
electromagnetic spectrum available for communication purposes.
In this part you will have the opportunities to:

plan chose equipment or resources for and perform first hand
investigation and gather information to model the inverse square law for
light intensity and distance from the source
analyse information to identify the electromagnetic spectrum range
utilised in modern communication technologies.
Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, amended October
2002. The original and most uptodate version of this document can be found on
the Boards website at

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What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
In this part you will investigate how people use the electromagnetic spectrum
to communicate faster and further. You have already learned some things
about electromagnetic waves in this module.
The electromagnetic spectrum is a continuum of electromagnetic waves.

This means that electromagnetic waves of one type blend into the
type adjacent.
This spectrum is arranged according to frequency and wavelength.
Can you remember the names of the waves that make up the electromagnetic
spectrum? The electromagnetic spectrum includes visible light, ultraviolet
and infrared, microwave, radio, xrays and gamma waves.
Can you order these wave types from the electromagnetic spectrum according
to decreasing wavelength? Check your answer by having a look at the figure
showing the electromagnetic spectrum below.
gamma x-rays ultraviolet infra-red radio waves electrical

rays light microwaves TV radio power
Wavelength
0.01 nm 1 nm 0.1 m 0.01 mm 1 cm 1m 1 km 103 km
Wavelength in metres 0.40.7m
1011 109 107 105 102 100 103 106
The electromagnetic spectrum is arranged in order of increasing wavelength.
Source of electromagnetic radiation

The universe is made up of electromagnetic radiation sources. The Sun,
Earth, and other heavenly bodies radiate electromagnetic energy of varying
wavelengths. The radiation itself is made by accelerating tiny charged
subatomic particles such as electrons.

All electromagnetic energy passes through space at the speed of light (300
million ms1) in the form of sinusoidal (sineshaped) or compound transverse
waves. These are just complex waves made up of multiple simple waves
superposed.
Electromagnetic radiation from space

Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere absorbs electromagnetic radiation except
in the visible region and some high frequency radio waves in the microwave
region. Astronomers make extensive use of radiation in these two ranges to
study space using Earthbound instruments. Increasingly, astronomers are
using radiation such as xrays to study objects in space.
Satellite based devices such as the Chandra space telescope are designed to
study xrays produced when gas is heated to millions of degrees by violent
and extreme conditions, for example, flaring stars, exploding stars, black
holes and vast clouds of hot gas in galaxy clusters.
Images from this xray telescope show fifty times more detail than any
previous xray telescope based on the Earths surface, but to see these images
the Chandra telescope has had to be placed in an orbit a third the distance to
the moon. This is in order to escape the influence of the Earths magnetic
field that affects the telescopes detectors and the atmosphere and change
ionosphere because these both influence xrays.
The degree to which electromagnetic waves can penetrate to the surface of the
Earth varies. The diagram below shows the broad penetrating ability of
electromagnetic waves through the atmosphere.
visible light
gamma rays x-rays UV infra-red microwave radio
400
200
100
Altitude in km (not to scale)
50
25
12
aircraft
6
3
land surface
0
sea level
Wavelength
Penetration of electromagnetic waves. If the shading changes then the penetration

level changes.

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1 After looking at the diagram can you see any trend in the ability of
electromagnetic radiation to penetrate to the surface of the Earth? If so,
what is that trend?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2 What are the radiation types of the spectrum that propagate almost
completely to the Earths surface?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
3 How would you describe the ability of UV, Xrays and gamma rays
in terms of their capacity to penetrate to the surface of the Earth?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Check your answers.
The ionosphere
The Earth is surrounded by a layer of gas called the atmosphere. Part of that
gas at high altitude is ionised (the atoms and molecules have become
charged by losing or gaining electrons) producing a layer we refer to as
the ionosphere.
The ionosphere has been divided up into three regions (D, E, F) based on the
type of radiation absorbed in each region.
The D region is the lowest in altitude and includes the ionised zone of the
atmosphere that extends to 90 km above the Earths surface. Hard xrays are
absorbed in the D region. Hard xrays have short wavelengths.
The E region peaks at around 105 km above the Earths surface. Soft xrays,
or longer wavelength xrays, are absorbed in the E region.
The F region starts at around 105 km and continues to 600 km above the
Earths surface. Extreme ultraviolet radiation with short wavelengths is
absorbed in the F region.

Ultraviolet radiation
Ozone is a critical component of Earth's atmosphere because it absorbs
harmful solar ultraviolet radiation at wavelengths less than about 320
nanometres (nm). Ozone is found in relatively higher concentration between
1050 km above the Earths surface but the ozones greatest concentration is
between about 15 and 30 km above the surface of the Earth in the layer of the
atmosphere called the stratosphere.
Because of the strong absorption of solar ultraviolet radiation by ozone in the

stratosphere, it is virtually impossible for ultraviolet rays between 200 and
300 nm to penetrate to the Earth's surface.
For example, UV with a wavelength of 290 nm is 350 million times weaker at

the Earths surface than at the top of the atmosphere. At 40 km above the
surface about 50% of UV with a wavelength of 290 nm has been absorbed.
UV radiation is typically divided into three parts:

UVa (320 to 400 nm)
UVb (280 to 320 nm)
UVc (200 to 280 nm).
1 Which of these radiations has the largest frequency? __________
2 Which has the greatest penetrating power? __________________
Check your answers.
UVc is absorbed by small concentrations of ozone high in the atmosphere.

None gets to the Earth's surface.
UVb is mostly absorbed (about 90% or more) by the upper atmosphere

called the troposphere and about half of the UVa is absorbed by ozone or
scattered before reaching the troposphere.
Look at a detailed explanation of where different wavelengths of

electromagnetic radiation are absorbed in the atmosphere at the Physics
website page.
Visible light
Evidence that visible light doesnt penetrate through the atmosphere equally
well at all wavelengths is seen most mornings at sunrise and afternoons
at sunset.

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White sunlight is made up of all the colours of the rainbow (or visible
spectrum). It has to penetrate more of the atmosphere at sunset because it is
travelling across the atmosphere not just down through it as it would at
midday. This means that those rays that dont penetrate as well dont reach
our eyes.
Since the Sun looks red at sunset it is therefore reasonable to conclude that
red light is more penetrating than the other colours.
Red light is at the low frequency end of the visible spectrum. Violet light is at
the high frequency end of the visible spectrum. Light of low frequency is
therefore more penetrating through the atmosphere than light of high
frequency. The figure below shows the wavelength of visible white light in
nanometres (nm).
white light
prism
400 500 600 700
gamma x-rays ultra infrared

rays rays violet rays radar broadcast bands AC circuits
rays
-5 -3 -1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Violet light is at the 400 nm end of the visible light spectrum whereas red light is at
the 700 nm end of the visible light spectrum.
A more detailed explanation of the penetrating ability of different

frequencies or colours of light through the atmosphere can be found at pages
on the Physics website page.
Complete the chart on the next page to show the penetrating ability of all
the electromagnetic radiation wavelengths to the surface of the Earth.
Use the information you have just read from the section titled
Electromagnetic radiation from space.

Is there any relationship that you can see from your completed chart that
enables you to relate ability of the radiation to penetrate to the wavelength of
the radiation?
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
infrared windows
optical window
radio window
opaque
transparent
-3 -1 0 2 3 6 8 9
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
Wavelength (nm)
Electromagnetic wave penetration through the atmosphere.
Visible light represents only a very small portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
The figure on the next page shows the electromagnetic spectrum and some of
the devices that are used to detect some of the wave bands.
At one end the electromagnetic spectrum has radio waves with wavelengths
billions of times longer than those of visible light and at the other end gamma
rays that have wavelengths millions of times smaller than visible light.
Wavelength is measured in metres or parts of a metre. Because the

wavelengths of some forms of electromagnetic radiation are so small their
wavelengths are measured in nanometres. One nanometre (nm) is one
billionth of one metre or 109 metres.

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Produced in By Frequencies in cycles Type Wave length Detected

per second in metres by
nuclear oscillating
reactions nucleus Geiger-Muller
g tube
a
m
m
a
10 12

1020
r
spiralling a
x-ray tube y
inner
electron s
10 10

1018 x
-
r
a
y
s
10 8

spiralling 1016
outer
electron ultraviolet
visible light
10 6

1014
i
n
f
r
a
-
10 4

1012 r
e
d
spiralling
sun electron in
a solar flare m 10 2

i
c radio
1010 r
o telescope
w
a radar
v
e
s
100
oscillation 108
of charge in r
conductor a
d
i
o 102
106
w
a
v
e 104
104 s
The electromagnetic spectrum.

Diagram courtesy of Messel, H (1963) Science for High School Students.

After looking at the figure above list those types of electromagnetic spectrum
waves that are currently used for communication in the table below. For each
radiation type you have listed identify the radiation detector.
Electromagnetic wave type Radiation detector
Check your answer.
The basic categories

The basic categories of the electromagnetic spectrum are listed below:
Radio waves
Radio waves (AM, FM, VHF and UHF) have a range of wavelength from 10
cm to 1000 m. Their uses include the transmission of radio and television
signals. Examples of applications include:
television
FM and AM radio stations
radar whereby radio waves can create images.
if radio waves of a few centimetre wavelengths are transmitted from a
satellite or plane antenna they will bounce off the ground and see through
clouds detection of their reflections can produce a picture of what lies
below.
Microwaves
Microwaves have wavelengths of approximately 1mm to 30cm.
Applications include the microwave oven that emits radio waves tuned to a
frequency of 2450 MHz that can be absorbed by the food. The food absorbs
the energy and gets warmer.

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Microwaves emitted from the Earth, or objects such as cars, planes, and from
the atmosphere, can be detected to give information, such as the temperature
of the object that emitted the microwaves. Microwave transmission of mobile
phone calls occurs on frequencies of around 900 MHz.
Infrared waves
Infrared waves have wavelengths of around 700 nm to about one millimetre.
Infrared (IR) radiation can be measured using electronic detectors or special
photographic film.
Applications include:
medicinal treatments for soft tissue injury
finding heat leaks from houses
information on the health of crops from satellite images
seeing forest fire hot spots even if enveloped in a curtain of smoke
signal carriers in opticalfibres in telecommunications.
the remote connection and operation of electronic devices such as the
television remote control and wireless connections to computers.
Visible light
Visible light has a wavelength of 700 to 400 nm. Applications include:
remote sensing of vegetation, identification of different objects by their
visible colours and fibreoptic telecommunications.
Ultraviolet radiation has wavelengths from 400 to 10 nm. A small dose of
this radiation is beneficial to humans, but larger doses cause skin cancer and
cataracts. Applications include its use in making astronomical observations
and its use to sterilise hospital equipment.
Xrays
Xrays have wavelengths from 10 nm to 0.01 nm. Applications include
medical applications, inspecting industrial welds, and it is important to study
space derived xrays so we can predict space weather. They are also used in
the manufacture of electronic chips and some biomolecular materials.
Gamma rays
Gamma rays have wavelengths of less than 0.01 nm. Applications include
medical applications and their use in astronomical investigations.

Intensity of electromagnetic waves
How does distance from a source affect the intensity of an electromagnetic

wave? Communication using electromagnetic waves can be made over
long distances.
Make a list of all the types of communication you know that use
electromagnetic waves to carry the signal.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
Often we have to amplify signals travelling large distances. This is because

the signals decrease in strength over distance. This decrease in strength is
called attenuation of the signal.
Why is attenuation important?

Learning about attenuation will help you to understand why the intensity of
the signal indicator on a mobile phone drops off away from the transmitting
antenna and why the signal of your favourite radio station drops out when you
are away from home.
The relationship between distance and intensity of the electromagnetic wave

signal from source should be clear to you. Increased distance results in
decreased intensity of signal.
You know that the further you are from a light source, the lower the intensity
the light from the source appears to have. At 100 metres from a street light
the illumination appears dim. It lights up the area much less brightly or with
lower intensity than the area adjacent to the light. Light intensity
(illuminance) is measured in units called the lux (lx). This can be done with a
light meter.

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To provide some idea of what a lux is:

sunlight on an average day ranges from 32 000 to 100 000 lx.
rooms are lit at about 500 lx.
moonlight lights up an area with an intensity of about 1 lx.
The inverse square law

The drop off in light intensity might follow some rules. You should perform
the experiments below to determine these rules.
Aim
To model how the light intensity varies with distance from a point source of
light such as a light globe, using a balloon.
Procedure
1 Imagine the light globe is always in the centre of your balloon.
The inflating balloon surface is a representation of a wavefront travelling
in three dimensions from the light globe.
2 Inflate a round balloon until it has a diameter of around 10 cm.
Do not tie off the balloon.
Record this as radius 1 unit in the table below.
3 Use a marker pen to draw a 1 cm by 1 cm square on the balloon where
the balloon is thickest opposite the inflation tube where you blow up the
balloon.
Record the area of the square in the table below as 1 cm2. This square
represents the energy of the light at that radius from the light source.
a) What will happen to the area of the square as you inflate the
balloon?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
b) What would be happening to the fixed quantity of energy from a
light source as it is spreading out from a point source in terms of the
amount of energy per unit area?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

4 Inflate the balloon until it has a diameter of around 20 cm. The distance
to the centre of the balloon has now doubled.
Record this as 2 units in the table below.
5 Measure the size of the square on the balloon now.
Record the area in the table below beside 2 units.
c) Has the area of the square doubled or increased by around 4 times?
__________________________________________________
5 Inflate the balloon until it has a diameter of around 30 cm. Be careful not
to explode it. The distance to the centre of the balloon has now tripled.
6 Measure the size of the square on the balloon now.
Record the area in the table below.
d) How has the area of the square increased now? Is it three times
bigger or around 9 times bigger?
__________________________________________________
Distance units from the balloon centre Area of the square
1 1 cm2
e) Describe the relationship shown by this data. That is, how does this
increase in area relate to the distance from the source?
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
f) Would it be accurate to say to 'the area increase is proportional to the
distance unit squared?'
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
Check your answers.

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Returning to the model at the beginning of this activity where you imagined
the balloon surface was a wavefront of light propagating in three dimensions
from a point source of light located in the centre of the balloon.
This model is like the situation shown in the figure on the next page.
As the balloon gets bigger, the light would have propagated further from
the source.
Light propagating in three dimensions.
You can see from your results that the area of the square drawn on the balloon
increases as a factor of the distance from the balloon centre squared.
Similarly a set quantity of light energy in any wavefront would be spread over
an area increasing in proportion to the distance from the source squared.
The inverse relationship of light intensity decreasing as distance, d is

increasing can be combined with this relationship to establish the relationship
between distance and light intensity, I as:
1
I 2
d
In practical terms this means that if you are 1 m from a light source with an
intensity of 4000 lx then at 2 m the light intensity will be:
1
I = 4000
22
I = 1000
The light intensity is 1000 lx.

At 3 m the light intensity will be:
1
I = 4000
32
I = 444
The light intensity is 444 lx.

1 What would be the light intensity at 4 m?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
2 What would be the light intensity at 5 m?
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Check your answers.

1
The relationship I 2 is an example of the inverse square law. This law or
d
relationship will be encountered a number of times throughout this physics
course.
Confirming I 12 using a data logger

d
At your practical session with your teacher you may use a data logger to
1
confirm the relationship I 2 . The following text describes how you
d
might go about this.
1 Connect the light intensity probe to your data logger.
2 Set up the data logger to collect and store data.
3 Set up the light globe in the centre of a dark room.
4 Point your light intensity probe directly at the light globe close to the
globe (around 0.01 m from it). Record the light intensity.
5 Record readings of light intensity at 1 m, 2 m, 3 m, 4 m etc .
6 Record the distance for each light intensity reading in list 2.
7. Plot your values of light intensity against the distances in list 2.
This will give you a graph of light intensity versus distance from the light
globe. Print the shape of the graph.

8. Square the values for distance you recorded. Plot the values of light
1
intensity against the 2 . Print the shape of the graph.
distance
Your results might look something like this.
Light intensity (lx) List 1 Distance from light (m) Distance from light
List 2 squared
8600 1 1
2 =1
1
2150 2 1 1
2 =
2 4
950 3 1 1
2 =
3 9
535 4 1
2 = 16
4
344 5 1 1
2 =
5 25
If you have access to a data logger with 2 input ports and a sonic ranger as
well as a light probe use the sonic ranger and light meter to get a continuous
1
reading of I vs 2
d
1
1 Graph the light intensity against 2 on the graph paper in the Appendix.
d
Draw a line graph and join your points with a line or curve of best fit.
2 What do you notice about the shape of your graph? Explain it.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answer.

Modulation
How do you add information to electromagnetic waves? When you speak

how do you add information to the signal that is your voice?
You vary the amplitude and the frequency of the sound waves coming out of
your mouth.
You have all heard a boring speaker. Sometimes what they are saying is
interesting but the tone of their voice is monotone and they simply don't
communicate well. It's hard to hear them clearly. Clear speakers add
variation in tone or frequency and change amplitude to make sure their
message gets across. They have added information to the signal of their voice
by modulating the sound wave coming from their larynx.
Electromagnetic waves can carry information. This information must be

added to the waves. The process of adding the information is called
modulation. To modulate a radio or microwave either the amplitude or the
frequency of the wave must be changed. The other critical aspect of
information transfer is that the signal must be converted back into information
you can use. That process is called demodulation.
Consider a radio wave signal being modulated. A radio wave signal occupies
a bandwidth of frequencies. This means that the electromagnetic wave
transmitted is using a number of frequencies next to each other rather than a
single frequency. In the middle of that bandwidth is the carrier wave.
What does the carrier wave do?
Nothing, it is a by-product of the radio wave transmitter. (If you can think of
your voice as a wave being transmitted this carrier wave would be like you
saying a single note like Aa and nothing else.) The message signal is added to
that carrier wave by superposition of a signal wave.

Kinds of modulation
There are many kinds of modulation. You probably know about the two most
common ways: amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM)
although you may wish to research on your own a third kind called
phase modulation.
What is amplitude modulation?

The most common place you would have heard about amplitude modulation
is from AM (amplitude modulation) radio.
To add a signal to an AM radio signal the amplitude (the strength of the

signal) must be changed in a way corresponding to the information we wish to
send as a signal. The signal remains constant in frequency bandwidth but
varies in strength or amplitude of the wave. This variation in the amplitude of
the wave is decoded by your radio to produce the signal you hear.
unmodulated carrier
modulating signal
AM modulated carrier
Amplitude modulation of a carrier wave.
You can probably recognise from the figure above that amplitude modulation
is really superposition of the modulating signal carrying the message
information onto the carrier wave.
Look at pages that show an animated demonstration of amplitude

modulation on the Physics website page.

What is frequency modulation?
In a frequency modulated (FM) radio transmission, the frequency of the wave
is varied and it is that variation that carries the information.
A limiting circuit in the radio receiver removes amplitude variations that

occur in transmission of the radio signal. The limiting circuit keeps the
amplitude of the received wave a near constant in the radio receiver and the
signal is converted back into sound by a discriminator circuit. The figure
below shows an FM signal.
unmodulated carrier
modulating signal
FM modulated carrier
Frequency modulation of a carrier wave.
Look at some pages that give a more detailed explanation for how AM and
FM works on the Physics website page.
Is frequency modulation also accomplished with superposition of a signal

wave onto a carrier wave? Explain your reasoning.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.

What is the advantage of FM over AM?
Most natural and artificial sources of radio noise (the signal you dont want
on your radio and that is called static) is AM in nature. This means that noise
combines with the AM signal by superposition of waves to produce a more
complex and different wave form than the one transmitted. As a result the
information from the AM radio station is easily altered.
amplitude modified signal
plus noise signal
equals modified AM signal this is

the static
Figure: AM signal plus noise.
The effects of noise are much reduced in FM radio signals by the limiting
circuit therefore, you dont need to worry about the strength of the signal
received but rather rely on the frequency changes to provide the radio signal.
It is much harder to change the frequency by interference hence the music
received is closer to that broadcast.

Does AM have any advantages over FM?
FM radio channels require a large bandwidth of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The range of frequencies required to transmit the signal is large. Since the
electromagnetic spectrum is limited in the range of frequencies available that
means that the number of FM channels transmitted is limited.
AM radio requires a much smaller bandwidth of frequencies for transmission

so the number of potential AM channels transmitted is much larger.
Microwaves are also modulated

There is no difference between frequency modulation of microwaves that are
used to send signals from mobile phones and radio waves.
The reasons microwaves are used in mobile telephone systems are

listed below.
microwaves constitute a different bandwidth of frequencies of the
electromagnetic spectrum to radio waves. Crowding of the bandwidths is
a problem.
microwaves do not spread out very much so most of the energy makes it
to the next receiver dish from the transmitter. This results in signal with
a potential range of up to 100 km. Such a system is important to send
information over long distances on mobile phone networks.
it is possible to send a large number of signals at once using the same
beam, up to 20 000 telephone calls at once, because the range of
frequencies in the microwave transmission range is large.
The disadvantages of using microwaves

The main disadvantage of microwaves as a signal carrier is that they require a
line of sight connection from one antenna to the next. If you live in the city
you may have noticed many of these antennae.
Are any of these antennae located around your local area? Is it obvious that
these antennae have a line of sight connection? Because microwave
transmitters need a line of sight connection to get good area coverage, a
network needs a huge number of antennae.
All of the major communication networks have maps showing mobile phone
network coverage.

Look at the NSW coverage maps for OPTUS Mobile. This can be found at
the Physics website page.
There is another disadvantage of microwaves being used as a signal carrier.
You know that microwaves heat food by water molecules absorbing them
which increases the energy of the water molecules. Hence in microwave
bandwidth frequencies, transmission range is affected by atmospheric
conditions like the moisture content or rain. Also oxygen absorption of the
microwave energy is a problem and can affect microwave transmission.
Modulation of microwaves and light

Some examples of modulation of light signals are listed below.
The earliest modulation of light signal by amplitude modulation was
probably the helioscope, where a signal on or off was flashed to
communicate over a distance.
The lighthouse provides a good example of amplitude modulation of a
light signal to warn ships of danger. A common frequency modulation
device in use in many towns and cities today is the traffic light. The
frequency of the light is varied or modulated to tell you whether to stop,
go, or prepare to stop.
Light is just another part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It therefore
behaves in a similar way to other electromagnetic waves and will allow
transmission of AM signals from a light laser to a receiver. The signal is
amplitude modulated because the frequency of light from a particular
laser is fixed.
The signal strength of the laser light can be varied as a response to sound
at a microphone producing small differences in the size of an electric
current. This signal is added onto the light from the laser.
Look at some pages that relate to infrared laser communication of data.

These can be found at the Physics website page.
At your practical session your teacher may show you a device such as the
LaserDot transmitter and receiver that will send and receive sound waves
transmitted across an open space by an amplitude modulated laser beam.
This open-to-air laser device will transfer a sound signal around 200 m
without the use of fibre-optic cable with high reliability.

When using the LaserDot device that sends the signal by amplitude
modulation would you expect the intensity of the light from the laser to be
constant or would you expect it to vary? Explain your answer.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
An object in the path of the laser beam can disrupt a laser signal beamed
across an open space.
If you can think of a way to avoid this problem, write it down in the space
below.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
If the laser signal is fed into a fibre-optic cable, the distance of transmission
can be greatly increased because the beam is protected from interruption.
New high purity fibre-optic cable systems can transfer light of frequencies in
the infrared range around 100 km without the need to boost the signal.
Before you will understand how these cables work it will be necessary for you
to learn about reflection and refraction. You will do this in the next part of
this module.
Do return exercise 4.7 now.

Appendix

Suggested answers
Electromagnetic radiation from space

1 Longer wavelength electromagnetic waves are more penetrating than
short wavelength electromagnetic waves in general.
2 Radio waves, most microwaves and visible light.
3 UV, X-rays and gamma rays are almost completely filtered out by the
atmosphere.
1 UV-c
2 UV-a
Visible light
Longer wavelengths are more penetrating.
Electromagnetic wave type Radiation detector
Radio waves Radio/ transistor radio/ television
Microwaves Mobile phones
Infrared waves Receiver
Visible light Laser receiver/the eye

Intensity of electromagnetic waves
Television, radio, telephone, the Internet, mobile phone calls.
The inverse square law

a) It increases.
b) Decreases with increasing distance.
c) 4 times.
d) 9 times.
Distance units from the balloon centre Area of the square
1 1 cm2
2 4 cm2
3 9 cm2
e) Area increases by a factor equal to the square of the increase in distance.

f) Yes.
1 250 lx
2 160 lx
1
Confirming I using a data logger
d2
1 3
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Light int ensit y (lx)

2 Undergoes exponential decay. Intensity exponentially decreases with
increasing distance but in theory never reaches zero intensity.
What is frequency modulation?

Yes. The carrier wave has been modified by superposing the signal.
Modulation of microwaves and light

Variable intensity because the light is amplitude modulated.

Exercises - Part 4
Exercise 4.1
The use of the electromagnetic spectrum for wireless communication is
limited to using bands from radio waves up to light. Why would it be
difficult to use higher frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum to
communicate by wireless?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 4.2
Over a week you are probably using a large number of communication
devices. Some devices you may have used are listed in the table below. List
any other devices you use for communication. Identify the part of the
electromagnetic spectrum each device is using
Communication device Type of electromagnetic wave used
telephone
television
radio

Exercise 4.3
The intensity of light received from a light source is proportional to the
reciprocal of the distance squared. The table that follows shows the average
distance of the inner planets of our solar system from the Sun. Complete the
table of light intensities from the Sun at each of the named planets after
calculating the intensity values relative to the light intensity received on
Earth.
Planet Mean distance from Light intensity (lx)
the Sun (km)
Mercury 57.7 106
Venus 107 106
Earth 149 106 32 000
Mars 226 106
Exercise 4.4
Australian colour TV channel broadcast standards (2000) are described as
having the following characteristics:
Channel width 7 MHz sideband transmission
Vision carrier 1.25 MHz above lower edge of

channel
Vision modulation negative amplitude modulation
Lines per picture 625 lines interlaced 2:1
Line frequency 15625 Hz
Primary sound carrier 5.5 MHz above vision carrier
Secondary sound carrier 242.1875 kHz above primary sound

carrier
Sound modulation FM

This tells us that the picture on your TV is the result of 625 amplitude
modulated signals each producing a line of signal. The sound on your TV is
an FM signal. Explain why you often lose the picture in poor reception areas
but are still able to receive sound.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 4.5
Locate an AM/FM radio that shows the stations on the tuner dial. Read off
the following information from the radio.
a) What is the range of frequencies for radio stations in the FM band in
Australia?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
b) Typical FM radio stations have carrier frequencies separated by
0.2 MHz. How many FM radio stations could fit into the range of
frequencies used in Australia for FM radio?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
c) Read off the range of frequencies available to AM radio stations from a
radio.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
d) Each AM station takes up a 9 kHz band width. How many stations could
broadcast in this band?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Exercise 4.6
Explain why fibre-optic cables in commercial use transfer radiation of
frequencies in the infrared range over long distances rather than using
radiation in the ultraviolet range? Explain your answer by referring to the
penetrating ability of visible light.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 4.7
Discuss problems produced by the limited range of the electromagnetic
spectrum available for communication purposes. You should consider this
question as having two aspects. They are the actual distance over which the
communications can occur and the limited number of frequencies available in
the communications bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Limit your
answer to 200 words.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

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Physics
Preliminary Course
Stage 6

Part 5: Reflection and refraction
0 2
0
2
r
t o be S
O c NT
t i ng DM E
o ra E N
o rp A M
I nc
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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................... 3
What is reflection?..................................................................... 5
Rules of reflection.................................................................................6
Reflection and communication ................................................ 11
Types of radio waves .........................................................................11
Curved mirrors ........................................................................ 13
Mirror terminology ..............................................................................14
What happens when rays strike? ......................................................14
Uses of reflecting surfaces ...................................................... 17
Position and nature of an image........................................................17
Using a spoon as a curved mirror .....................................................21
Other applications of curved surfaces ..................................... 25
The astronomical telescope...............................................................25
Torches...............................................................................................26
The satellite dish ................................................................................26
Refraction of waves................................................................. 29
Refraction can be seen in water........................................................29
What causes the bending? ................................................................31
Snells law...........................................................................................33
Part 5: Reflection and refraction 1

What is total internal reflection?............................................... 41
What is an opticalfibre? ......................................................... 44
How does an opticalfibre work? ......................................................44
Lenses .................................................................................... 46
Convex and concave lenses .............................................................47
Summary ................................................................................. 49
Appendix.................................................................................. 51
Exercises Part 5.................................................................... 57

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Introduction
This part should enable you to understand how reflection and refraction
are used in communication.

describe and apply the law of reflection and explain the effect of
reflection from a plane surface on waves
describe ways in which applications of reflection light, radio waves
and microwaves have assisted in information transfer
describe one application of reflection for each of the following
plane surfaces
concave surfaces
convex surfaces
radio waves being reflected by the ionosphere
explain that refraction is related to the velocities of a wave in
different media and outline how this may result in the bending of a
wavefront
define refractive index in terms of the changes in the velocity of a
wave in passing from one medium to another
define Snells Law:

v1 = sini
v 2 sinr
identify the conditions necessary for total internal refraction with
reference to the critical angle.
outline how refraction and/or total internal reflection is used in
optical fibres

perform firsthand investigations and gather information to observe
the path of light rays and construct diagrams indicating both the
direction of travel of the light rays and a wave front

present information using ray diagrams to show the path of waves
reflected from:
plane surfaces
concave surfaces
convex surface
the ionosphere
perform an investigation and gather information to graph the angle
of incidence and refraction for light encountering a medium change
showing the relationship between these angles
perform a firsthand investigation and gather information to
calculate the refractive index of glass or perspex
solve problems and analyse information using Snells Law

October 2002. The original and most uptodate version of this document can
be found on the Boards website at
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_hsc/syllabus2000_listp.html#p.

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What is reflection?
Communication technologies use reflection and refraction of

electromagnetic waves.
You know what a reflection is. You look at reflections of yourself every
day in a mirror or glass. The reflection is the wave energy that cannot
penetrate a surface bounced back from that surface.
The behaviour of the wave energy at the surface follows strict rules.
You may already know some of these rules from your earlier work on
reflecting sound and echoes.
To assist in understanding how reflection works with light you can use an
artificial construction line called a ray. A ray, as shown in the figure
below, is a line drawn at 90 to a wavefront.
ray
wavefront rays and

wavefronts
Rays at 90 to wavefronts show the direction of energy flow.
Rays are simply lines of construction that indicate the direction in which
the wave energy is travelling.
Rays, being straight lines, are easier to use than wavefronts in diagrams
to illustrate the behaviour of waves. They make it simpler to analyse

wave behaviour on paper. By following the path of the ray you can see
what the wave is doing.
Rules of reflection
What are the rules that determine what happens to reflected waves?
The easiest way to determine what happens to reflected waves is to

consider light waves as an example. When light waves (or rays) hit a
smooth surface such as a mirror, they are reflected. The light ray that
strikes the surface is called the incident ray. The light ray that is
reflected back is called the reflected ray.
The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of
incidence all lie in one plane. That means they can all be drawn as
though they lie on one flat sheet of paper.
The angle of incidence, i, equals the angle of reflection, r, when both

angles are measured to the normal. That means with respect to a line
drawn at 90 to the surface where the ray strikes. The figure below
shows the features of reflection.
normal angle of reflection

incident ray
angle of incidence
reflected ray
i r
mirror surface
Reflection of light from a plane mirror.
The second statement is known as the Law of reflection and is

represented mathematically by the expression:
the angle of incidence = the angle of reflection.
i = r
The reflection of light from a flat mirror, also called a plane mirror, can
produce a blinding glare. This occurs when a number of parallel rays are

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incident on a mirror, the reflected rays will also be parallel (see the figure
opposite).
normals
incident
reflected rays
rays
reflecting surface
Reflection of multiple rays from a plane mirror. Note that for each separate
incident ray the law of reflection applies.
Observing reflection
You have probably looked at reflection many times already. The activity
below requires you to observe the law of reflection more formally.
Do the following:
Shine a torch beam on a mirror in a darkened room.
Look at the angle of incidence.
Does it appear that the angle of incidence is approximately equal to the

angle of reflection? You should notice that the angle of incidence is
equal to the angle of reflection.
When the light is incident upon an irregular surface, the laws of

reflection still hold for each particular ray of light, but the normal rays to
the surface are not parallel, so the light is reflected in many different
directions. This produces diffuse reflection and is illustrated in the
following figure.
incident
rays
normal rays are not

parallel
Diffuse reflection where each individual ray obeys the law of reflection but
collectively the reflection is diffuse.

Light reflecting off the water in a pond can produce a mirrorlike
reflection or a diffuse reflection.
What do you think the condition of the pond or swimming pool surface
would be like to produce
a) a mirrorlike reflection?
_____________________________________________________
b) a diffuse reflection?
______________________________________________________
Check your answer.
How do images form from reflected light?

1 Find a large mirror located in a room.
2 Stand directly in front of the mirror as in the figure below.
Walk forward until your face almost touches the mirror.
When you stand in front of a plane (flat) mirror, every point on your
body reflects light. Your body is serving as a source of light waves.
Some of these waves will strike the mirror, reflecting in just the right
direction to enter your eye, where the light is focused to form an image.
The image is seen as though it is an object behind the mirror. Every

point on your hand, for example, will have its corresponding image point
behind the mirror, recreating the appearance of that hand.
Someone else looking into the mirror, as in the figure below, may see
rays that reflect off the mirror that don't enter your eye.
object mirror image
Reflection of your image in a plane mirror.

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Describe your image in the mirror in terms of its way up, its left and right,
its size and its distance back from the mirror compared to your distance back
from the mirror.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
You should have described an image in the plane mirror that is

undistorted, rightside up (upright), the same size (lifesize) and
standing just as far behind the reflecting surface as you are in front of it.
The image is also laterally inverted that means that left becomes right
and right becomes left, for example, the image of your left hand appears
to be the right hand of the image.
Locating an image from a plane mirror

Suppose that a point, P, is a source of light rays from a pin for example.
You can find the position of its image in a plane mirror represented by
the symbol P by drawing the construction rays shown in the
figure below.
source P P' image
y
y'
ray A
x
x'
mirror
O
ray B
Image formation in a plane mirror.

A geometric construction can be used to locate an image from a plane
mirror. The procedure for the construction is as follows.
1 Draw two rays, A and B, from P to the mirror using a pencil. Then look
at mirror and draw in the path of the reflected rays. These are easily
seen as the reflected pencil line leading to the reflected image of the pin.
2 Because these rays are reflected:
i=r
3 This is shown by y and y' and x and x' on the figure. Note, the
reflected rays (A and B) are diverging or moving apart. The normal
represented by the dotted line hits the mirror surface at 90 and is
reflected straight back.
4 To find an image point we extend the construction lines of the
reflections, including the normal behind the mirror, to where they
intersect at point P'. This is the image position. If you have done the
reconstruction properly you will find that P' is as far behind the
mirror as P is in front. That is, the object distance from the mirror is
equal to image distance behind the mirror.
The image in the mirror is not a real image. This means P' is called a
virtual image and the rays of light do not actually pass through or come
from P', they only appear as if they do.
A test of whether an image is 'real' or not is whether the image can be

projected on a screen such as a white sheet of paper. This image cannot
so therefore it is not a real image.
Do Exercises 5.1 and 5.2 now.

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Reflection and communication
You may have seen old movies where a mirror used reflected sunlight to
flash messages. This system used a code based on the length of flashes
similar to Morse code. This device was called a heliograph. Heliographs
were used as communication devices in the late 19th and early 20th
century.
Types of radio waves

Today many of the radio waves we use to communicate are reflected
from the ionosphere. These radio waves are known as sky waves.
Radio waves are divided up into three groups outlined below:
Surface waves
Surface waves follow the Earths surface and have maximum range
around 1000 km for low frequency waves.
Sky waves
Sky waves have high frequencies and are bounced off the ionosphere.
They can also bounce off the Earth back toward the ionosphere. Because
the curve in the ionosphere is so great the radio waves are effectively
reflected by a plane surface. An interesting point is that the height at
which the ionosphere begins varies throughout the day so the effective
communication range of sky wave transmissions also varies with the time
of day. If you are a short wave radio enthusiast you would know that the
signal you receive on your radio from long distance transmissions is
clearer during the night. This is because the ionosphere rises to a greater
altitude above the surface of the Earth at night.

To go to a good links page that gives you some of the history and a host of
interesting links about the ionosphere and radio go to a link on the physics
links page at:http://www.lmpc.edu.au/science
Space waves
Space waves have frequencies above 30 MHz. The ionosphere doesn't
reflect space waves. These waves are directed at satellites and are only
useful for line of sight type communications.
The following figure shows these three types of radio waves and the
passage of travel they follow.
satellite
ionosphere
sky
space waves waves
waves
urface
s transmitter
Earth
How the different radio waves carry communications. Note that the sky waves
literally bounce off the ionosphere. The higher the ionosphere, the longer the
range of the reflected sky radio wave.
1 Why do you think the low frequency surface radio waves are the most
penetrating?
_____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
2 How do you think sky wave radio signals could carry messages all
around the world from a single transmitter?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Check your answers.

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Curved mirrors
Plane mirrors are the most common mirrors that we use, but curved
mirrors are widely used in many applications.
Can you think of any places where curved mirrors might be used?
List the places you have seen curved mirrors used.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
There are many types of curved mirrors. Restrict your attention to only
one type of curved mirror, the spherical mirrors.
The reason spherical mirrors are used a lot is they are easy to make.
Spheres of glass are easily blown by glass blowers. All you have to do is
silver one side of the glass to make a spherical mirror.
Because the spherical mirror is made from a sphere the terminology used
in describing these mirrors is taken from a sphere and used to describe
features of a mirror.
a large hollow three-dimensional sphere
C principal axis
P
A spherical mirror forms part of a sphere The distance PC is said to be the

radius of curvature of the mirror because it is the radius of the sphere from
which the mirror was made. P is the polethe central point of the mirror, lying
on an axis that is an extension of the diameter of the mirror that we call the
principal axis of the mirror.

reflecting
surface
C C
reflecting
surface
concave mirror convex mirror
Concave and convex mirrors showing the reflecting surfaces.
Look at the figures then cross out the incorrect word in each statement about
curved mirrors.
a) A convex mirror has the reflecting surface on the (outside/inside) of the
curve.
b) A concave mirror has the reflecting surface on the (outside/inside) of
the curve.
Mirror terminology
To accurately describe how rays are reflected and curved mirrors form
images you have to use certain terms. Those terms include:
The sphere centre given the symbol C.
P the pole of the mirror as shown in the figures below of concave
and convex mirrors.
The principal axis is a line extended along the diameter of the sphere
from which the mirror could have been made. That diameter passes
through C and P.
What happens when rays strike?

When light rays strike a concave spherical mirror surface parallel with
the principal axis they are reflected and converge to a single point.
This point is called the principal focus or focal point of the mirror.
The principal focus is labelled F in the figure below. It is the point where
1
all the reflected rays meet. This point is the centre of curvature radius.
2
1
This the radius of the sphere from which the mirror could be made.
2

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concave mirror
principal axis C F
A concave mirror. This type of mirror is also called a converging mirror because
the reflected rays converge at a point on the same side of the mirror as the
source of the light.
With a convex mirror, incident rays hitting the mirror parallel to the
principal axis are reflected and diverge. If you project these reflected
rays backwards, behind the mirror you find a point on the principal axis
from which these rays appear to come. This is similar to finding the
image produced by a plane mirror. This point is the principal focus, or
focal point of the mirror.
convex mirror
principal axis F
P
C
focal length, f
A convex mirror. This type of mirror is also called a diverging mirror because
the reflected rays appear to diverge from a single point behind the mirror. The
point from which the reflected rays appear to diverge is called the focal point of
the mirror.
The principal focus is labelled F in the figure and is the point where all
the backward projections of the reflected rays meet. These are shown as
1
dotted lines. The principle focus is equal in length to the centre of
2
curvature radius of the sphere from which the mirror could be made.
Note that the focus is, in fact, behind the mirror. The focal length is from
the mirror to the principal focus. Because this is the case the convex
mirror can never produce a real image that can be projected onto a screen
(although it can be seen by an observer).

For both the concave and convex spherical mirrors, the focal point, F, is
halfway between P and C, that is:
PC
F=
2
Where F is focal length or the distance from the pole of the mirror to the
focus and PC is radius of curvature for the mirror.
Reversing incident rays

The paths followed by light rays are reversible. This is known as the
principle of reversibility of rays.
incident ray
F C principal axis
incident ray
A convex mirror with the incident rays directed towards the principal focus
showing the rays are reflected back from the mirror parallel to the principal axis
of the mirror. A ray projected through the centre of curvature of the mirror is
reflected back on itself. This is shown as the dashed line.
principal axis C F
A concave mirror with the incident rays directed through the principal focus
showing the rays are reflected back from the mirror parallel to the principal axis
of the mirror. A ray projected through the centre of curvature of the mirror is
reflected back on itself.

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Uses of reflecting surfaces
When mirrors are used so that the reflected rays are all parallel, they are
known as collimators, and the reflected beam is described as a
collimated beam. Collimators are used in torches, searchlights, radar
and microwave transmitters, and in spotlights and driving lights.
Position and nature of an image

You can use ray tracing to determine the position and nature of an image
formed by a curved mirror.
Start with the concave mirror, but you will see that the principles are the
same for the convex mirror.
The image and its nature are determined by constructing any two of the
following three rays.
1 The first ray is drawn from the top of the object (as this will fix the
top of the image) through the centre of curvature, to the mirror, and
reflects back upon itself (being incident normally on the mirror).
2 The second ray is again drawn from the top of the object. This ray
enters the mirror parallel to the principal axis, and, upon reflection,
passes through the principal focus; or appears to come from the focal
point of a convex mirror.
3 This ray is drawn from the top of the object, through the principal
focus, or proceeding towards it and, upon reflection, leaves the
mirror parallel to the principal axis.
The intersection of any two of these three rays defines the position, and
also the nature, of the image formed by the mirror.
The location of images from concave and convex mirrors is shown step
by step in the figures on the next page.

O
1
f P
axis C F
1
Ray 1 is drawn from the top of the object through the centre of the mirror.
O
1
f P
axis C F
I 1
Ray 2 is drawn from the top of the object parallel to the top of the object
and reflects back through the focus. The intersection of ray 1 and ray 2
locate the image
2
O 3
1
f P
axis C F
I 1
Ray 3 is drawn from the top of the object through the principal focus
and is reflected parallel to the principal axis. It confirms the image location
at the intersection of all three rays.

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For the concave mirror

The first ray is drawn from the top of the object, through C to the mirror
surface, reflects back upon itself.
The second ray is drawn parallel to the principal axis, reflecting back
through F.
A third ray drawn through the focus from the top of the object is reflected
back parallel to the principal axis.
Where these rays intersect is where the image, I, is formed. The nature
of this image is:
real a screen placed at the image position would have an image of
the object projected on it. The rays actually pass through the image
position.
inverted the image is upside down relative to the object;
diminished (magnification < 1). This means the image is smaller
than the object. This can be seen by taking a look.
The diagrams opposite show the procedure of drawing in the three rays
necessary to locate an image using a concave mirror.
For the convex mirror

The first ray is drawn from the top of the object, and projected behind the
mirror through C, reflects back upon itself.
The second ray is drawn parallel to the principal axis then through F.
A third ray drawn through the focus from the top of the object is reflected
back parallel to the principal axis.
The projected rays are broken lines to indicate that the light doesnt
actually travel from these points behind the mirror. The image is formed
at this point of intersection, and its nature is:
virtual the rays dont actually pass through the image, the light
only appearing to come from this point which is behind the mirror
upright the image is the same way up as the object
diminished. You can see this by looking at the image. It is smaller.

1
P C
axis I F
Ray 1 drawn from the top of the mirror and projected back through C.
2
1
P C
axis I F
o i
f
Ray 2 drawn parallel to the principal axis and after reflection from the mirror
appears to have come from F.
2
1
O 3
P C
axis I F
o i
f
Ray 2 drawn as though it is to pass through F but is reflected parallel to the
principal axis.

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Using a spoon as a curved mirror

To get a good understanding of how convex and concave mirrors work
you can use a stainless steel or silver plated round soupspoon as both a
concave mirror and a convex mirror.
Using a soupspoon as a concave mirror

Get yourself a soupspoon. Use the bowl shape of the spoon facing you do
the following activities.
25 cm
soup spoon
you
Describe what you see happening to an image of the letter R drawn

about 1 cm high on a sheet of paper. This R drawn on paper will be
your object.
Hold the spoon at about 25 cm from the R and look at the image of the
R in the spoon as shown in the figure below.
focus

1 Draw what you see in the spoon drawn previously.
2 Describe the image as diminished/magnified and upright/inverted.

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
3 Slowly move the spoon towards the R on the paper. Describe what
happens to the image.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Bring the spoon closer to the R slowly. The image should
disappear completely at one point. At this point, the R on paper is
at the focal length of the spoon. The image produced by the concave
mirror of the spoon would be focussed at an infinite distance from
the concave surface.
Record that distance in centimetres as the focal length of your spoon.
Bring the mirror closer to the R than the focal length as shown in
the diagram below.
focus
4 Draw what you see on the bigger, blank spoon shape. The reflected
image of R should now change. How does it change?
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

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5 Does bringing the mirror even closer to R make the image more
magnified/diminished?
_____________________________________________________
6 The image of the R inside the focal length of the spoon mirror is
said to not be a real image. Does this mean it cannot/can be
projected onto a screen?
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Using a soupspoon as a convex mirror

Get yourself a soupspoon and with the bowl shape of the spoon facing
away from you, do the following activities. Describe what you see
happening to an image of an R drawn on paper.
Slowly bring the mirror towards your R as shown in the figure below.
1 Describe what happens to the image.

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2 How would you describe the change in the size of the image as the
distance between the spoon and your R gets larger?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

3 Is this a real image or not? Explain your answer. Remembering the
nature of an unreal image from the results of the concave mirror
activity above will help you here.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Many cars have add on convex mirrors in rear vision mirrors. They
come with a warning that objects viewed in these mirrors may be
closer than they appear.
4 Explain why. Base your answer on observations with the spoon
convex mirror.
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
5 What do you think is the advantage of using convex mirrors for
driving rear view mirrors and also for security mirrors in shopping
areas?
______________________________________________________
Check your answers.

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Other applications of curved surfaces
The astronomical telescope

The telescope of the type shown in the picture below was invented by
th
Isaac Newton in the late 17 century. It is called the Newtonian
reflecting telescope.
plane mirror
parallel light rays from a star main curved

mirror
eyepiece lens
A Newtonian reflecting telescope. The main light collecting mirror is a concave

spherical mirror or a parabolic mirror. The parabolic mirror has an advantage
that it tends to focus the light collected by the mirror to a point more accurately.
The secondary mirror is a plane mirror.
Most large astronomical telescopes are like this one or are a variation
of it.
The main mirror in astronomical telescopes is coated with aluminium and

is a front silvered mirror. The largest optical telescopes of this kind are
the Gemini telescopes. They have an 8 m diameter main mirror made in
segments. They are located in Mauna Kea in Hawaii and the Atacam
desert in Chile at altitudes of around 4000 m. The Anglo Australian
Telescope at Siding Springs, near Coonabarabran, New South Wales has
a 3.9 m diameter single segment main mirror.
The larger the main mirror in the telescope the greater the light collecting
ability of the telescope. The more light that is collected the brighter the
image that will be formed of the astronomical object.

Can you suggest a reason why telescopes are often located at high altitudes?
Hint: Think about the penetrating ability of electromagnetic radiation
from space to the Earths surface.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
Torches
Torches often use a concave spherical mirror. Some torches make a spot
beam where others make a flood beam. Whether the light spreads out or
not depends on the placement of the filament of the light globe in front of
the mirror.
Use the rules for reflection of light from a concave spherical mirror to work
out why a torch produces a flood or a spot beam? Write your explanation
below.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
The satellite dish

Satellite dishes receive weak signals from satellites in space. These
signals are received by the dish as parallel rays hitting the dish surface.
A large dish collects the weak intensity signal and focuses the signal by
reflection to a receiver aerial at the focus of the satellite dish. This
increases the strength of the signal received.
The figure on the next page shows a satellite dish and its receiver aerial
located at the focus.

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A satellite receiving dish showing the focussing of the incoming rays to the
aerial.
The radio waves hit the satellite dish parallel and are reflected and
focussed by the satellite dish at a point to provide a stronger signal.
Some torches like the Mag Light brand have a beam that can be adjusted
to produce a flood or spot beam. How do you think these torches that have a
screw up/screw down reflector can be made to produce both a flood and a
spot beam?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.

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Refraction of waves
Refraction is the phenomenon where waves appear to bend as the wave

passes from one medium to another. You have seen the bending effect
when you put a straight stick into clear water such as a fish tank. This
apparent bending effect is shown below. In this case, you are the seeing
the refraction of light rays.
observer
apparent bend
apparent position
surface of stick
water
Apparent bending of a stick in water due to refraction of light at the interface

between water and air.
Refraction can be seen in water

Refraction can be seen with water waves where the water changes depth.
At your practical session with your teacher you may perform an experiment
similar to this one to study refraction of water waves. You could use the
ripple tank or a shallow baking dish.
1 Place a glass slab around 5 mm thick in the tray with water in it to a
depth of around 6 mm.
2 Set up a source of plane water waves such as those produced by a
ruler vibrating back and forwards with regular frequency.

3 Set up the depth of the water over one end of the slab to about one
millimetre, and at the other end about five millimetres. The plane
(straight) waves travelling from the deeper water (6 mm deep) to the
shallow water (1 mm over the slab) slow down and bunch up.
The wavelength of those waves decreases as shown in the figure below.
slab
depth 1 mm where
waves slow
depth 5 mm down
source of plane waves
Plane water waves in a ripple tank showing the bunching up of the waves over
the slab in the shallower water. Note that the frequency or number of waves
doesnt change when the waves bunch up. Only the wavelength and speed of
the waves moving forward have changed.
Adapted from OTEN, Physics for Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
If you arrange the position of the glass slab in the water so that the
incident water waves strike the shallow water over the slab at an angle.
The same slowing effect on the waves occurs, but now it creates the
appearance that the waves have bent. The waves in the shallow water
have a shorter wavelength. This is shown in the following figure.
depth 1 mm
depth 5 mm
source of plane waves
Plane waves travelling from deep to shallow water in a ripple tank. As each
wavefront encounters the shallow water that portion of the wave slows down.
This creates a bend in the wave. This bending is called refraction.
The refraction of water waves in the tray is characteristic of all waves.

The different water depths is the same as a change in the medium.

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Each type of wave has a fixed velocity in any given medium. In the case
above each different water depth is a different medium. Wave velocity
changes when a wave goes from one medium into another. However, the
frequency, does not change. Therefore in the wave equation below, the
wavelength, , must change.
v
f=

What causes the bending?

You already know it is the change in velocity as the wave goes from one
medium to another.
1 Look back at the diagram of the apparent bending of the stick at the
interface between air and water. In which medium do you think light
waves are travelling slower? Explain your answer by referring to the
water waves being refracted.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
2 If the water waves hit the change in medium (change in depth) at 90
(a normal) then bending wont occur but the change in the velocity
and wavelength of the wave will occur.
How do you think you could see evidence of a change in velocity if
there is no bending?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Consider a situation, where plane waves are moving from a medium

where they travel at high velocity into a medium where they travel at
lower velocity if the waves strike the interface at 90. This is shown in
the figure on the next page.

medium 1
v1
2 surface where
medium 1 and
medium 2 meet
medium 2
v2
Wavefronts hitting a change in medium at 90.
1 > 2
Notice how the wavelength decreases in medium 2. That is:
1 > 2
when
v1 > v2
If wavefronts strike a boundary between two mediums at an angle other

than 90, a change in wave direction results, along with a decrease in
speed and wavelength. This is shown in the following figure.
medium 1
v1
1
surface where
2
medium 1 and
medium 2 meet
medium 2
v2
In this figure the velocity in medium 2 is less than the velocity in

medium 1 and the wavelength in medium 2 is therefore less than the
wavelength in medium 1.Diagrams using wavefronts are difficult to

3 What happens when a wave goes from one medium to another where its
speed is lower? Answer in terms of the ray bending towards or away
from the normal.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
4 When a wave goes from one medium into another where its speed is
higher, the ray bends away from the normal.
How does the angle of incidence compare in size to the angle of
refraction in this situation?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Snells law
This law can be expressed in terms of the situation shown below.
normal
incident ray
medium 1
i V1
1
medium 2 r
V2 refracted ray
2
Refraction of waves away form the normal. This occurs when the speed of the
wave is slower in medium 1 than medium 2. That is v1 < v2 , 1 < 2 and r> i.
The relationship between speeds, wavelengths and angles of incidence

and refraction was determined experimentally in 1621 by Willebrord
Snell, and today it is known as Snells law.

Snells law can be expressed mathematically, as follows.
sin i v1 1 n
= = = n1 2 = 2 = constant
sin r v 2 2 n1
The constant is called the refractive index n 12 . The subscript numbers

following the n tell us it is the refractive index for waves going from
medium 1 into medium 2. That is, the refractive index of medium 2
relative to medium 1.
Snells law applies equally to waves slowing down or speeding up as

they go from one medium to another.
n1 and n2 are absolute refractive indices. (Refractive indices means more

than one refractive index.)
This means that the refractive index has been measured with respect to a
vacuum that by definition, has an absolute refractive index of exactly
1.0000 (for light).
The situation for defining refractive index relative to a vacuum is shown

below.
normal
vacuum
incident ray nv = 1.0000
i
v = c (for electromagnetic radiation)
medium 1
r
refracted ray
Absolute refractive index is compared to a vacuum as in space.
The table on the next page lists the absolute refractive indexes for some
common materials.

Substance Density (kg m3) Velocity of light in Absolute refractive
the medium (ms1) index
vacuum 0 8 1.000 000

3 10
air 1.29 8 1.0003

2.999 10
water 3 8 1.33
1 10 2.26 10
dense crown glass 3 8 1.56

3.6 10 1.92 10
flint glass 3 8 1.61

3.0 10 1.86 10
denser flint glass 3 8 1.74

4.7 10 1.72 10
perspex 3 8 2.00
1.19 10 1.5 10
diamond 3 8 2.42
3.5 10 1.24 10
Notice that the absolute refractive index for air is 1.0003. Unless we are
using five significant figure accuracy, we can use the approximation that:
The refractive index of air is 1.0 or, nair = 1
Using Snell's law
normal
incident light
40
air
water
Ray diagram showing refraction of light as it passes from air into water.

Look at the example of a problem using Snells law below.
Light enters water, from air, at an angle of 40 (shown in the figure

opposite). Using the information shown in the diagram and from the
table above, the angle of refraction and the speed of light in the water can
be determined.
Since, by Snells law:
sin i v1 1 n
= = = n1 2 = 2 = constant
sin r v 2 2 n1
and since the light here is going from air to water, then air is medium 1
and water is medium 2, so:
sin i v1 1 n
= = = n1 2 = 2 = constant
sin r v 2 2 n1
So sin i n w
=
sin r n a
n sin i
sin r = a
nw
1.00 sin 40
=
1.33
= 0.483
r = sin 0.483
1
= 29
Also va nw
=
vw na
n v
vw = a a
nw
1.00 3.0 10 8
=
1.33
= 2.26 10 8 m s1
Determining the angle of refraction

Now look at the example of a problem using Snells law to determine the
angle of refraction.
Consider a ray of light passing from water into air, so that the angle of
incidence is 29. This is shown in the figure following.

normal
r
air
water
29
Light rays passing from water to air. The light passing into a lower refractive
index material is bent away from the normal.
This time water is medium 1 and air is medium 2 since the light is going
from water into air. So Snells law becomes:
sin i v w w n
= = = nwa = a
sin r v a a nw
sin i n a
=
sin r n w
n sin i
sin r = w
na
1.33 sin 29
=
1.00
= 0.645
r = sin 1 0.645
= 40
If you compare both figures above you can see the principle of
reversibility in action. That is, if the ray direction is reversed, it traces its
former path, regardless of any reflection or refraction it may have
experienced.
You have two devices that are able to refract waves very wellyour eyes.
They refract incoming light and this light forms an image at the back of
the eye, on the retina.

Determining refractive indexes
You will need to determine the refractive index of either glass or perspex.
One way to do this is to use a rectangular glass or perspex slab and measure
the refractive index of light passing through the slab. The procedure to do
this is simple. Note that the figures and angle changes shown on the
diagrams below are exaggerated and will not give the true refractive index
value for glass or perspex.
1 Place a rectangular slab of glass or perspex on a page from an
exercise book that is in turn on a newspaper and trace around it.
pins
2 Leave the slab in place and on one side of it push two pins through
the page and into the newspaper, as shown in the diagram above so
that they stand upright.
3 Now look through the slab from the opposite side of the slab to the
pins and adjust your line of vision until the two pins appear to line
up directly behind one another.
4 When the two pins appear to be lined up, insert another two pins into
the paper so that all four pins appear to line up when viewed from
the side of the slab.
pins
All four pins appear

to be directly
behind one another
when observed
from the side
pins
5 Remove the slab.

6 Remove the pins and carefully mark their positions as indicated by
the pin holes with an x.
7 Draw a line through the two x marks on each side of the slab with a
ruler. Extend each line until it meets the outline of the slab as
shown.
8 Now draw another line that connects these two lines as shown
below. You should see the lines on each side of the slab are parallel
but they do not connect.
9 Draw in the normals at the point where the incident ray of light from
the two pins meets the slab as shown on the figure below.

normal
10 Measure the angles i and r. Use Snell's law to calculate the

refractive index of the slab material. Remember that the refractive
index of the air is 1 for this calculation.
11 Repeat this experiment using five different angles of incidence.
12 Calculate the average value for the refractive index of the perspex or
slab of glass.
Plot the sine of the angle of incidence versus sine of the angle of
refraction as a line graph on the graph paper in the appendix. Use a line
of best fit. Determine the slope of the line using rise/run method. This is
the refractive index.
How does the value of the refractive index determined from the slope of
the line compare to the average value of refractive index you calculated
above?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
It should be the same or very close to the average calculated value of the
refractive index. Making multiple measurements increases the reliability
of your data.

What is total internal reflection?
You learned in the previous section that the change in direction of a wave
passing from one medium to another can be calculated if you know the
refractive indexes of the two materials.
Imagine a ray of light entering a low refractive index medium from a

high refractive index medium. What happens? The light ray bends away
from the normal. The farther the incident ray is from the normal, the
farther the refracted ray will be from it as well. This situation is similar
to the situation shown in the figure below.
normal
r
A ray moving from a more dense to a less dense medium.
A small change in the angle of incidence causes a bigger change in angle

of refraction (due to the refractive indexes of the two materials). It is
therefore possible to have an angle of incidence where the ray cant exit
the optically denser material. This is because it is refracted to such an
extent that it is bent to 90 from the normal. This situation is shown in
the figure below.
normal
critical
angle
A ray incident at a change in refractive index that cannot escape the high
refractive index material such as this one is at the critical angle.

The angle of incidence in this special case is called the critical angle.
When the critical angle of incidence of a ray for the two substances is
exceeded, total internal reflection occurs. This means that instead of a
ray being refracted and exiting the optically denser material the incident
ray is reflected inside the material. From that point the ray will obey the
laws of reflection off the surface between the two materials and is
essentially trapped internally as shown in the figure below.
normal
i r
i=r
A ray undergoing total internal reflection.
You can find the critical angle of refraction at a boundary between two
mediums where the refracted ray cannot leave the first medium to enter
the second of lower density using Snells Law:
sin i v1 1 n
= = = n1 2 = 2
sin r v 2 2 n1
where 1 and 2 subscripts represent values for the first and second
materials the light enters, and i corresponds to the angle of incidence, and
r the angle of refraction.
In the case of the critical angle, you know that the angle of refraction, is
90. The sin 90 is equal to 1 so this simplifies the equation to:
sin i v1 1 n
= = = n 1 2 = 2
1 v 2 2 n1
The figure below shows the conditions necessary for the critical angle.
Note that the ray hits the interface between the two media and then
travels along parallel to the medium interface. The ray will still exit the
denser medium at the end of the shaded rectangle, in this figure.
normal
critical
angle
A ray undergoing refraction that is trapped in the denser medium.

Calculating the critical angle
Using Snells law
n1 sin ic = n2 sin 90.
Because the angle of refraction is 90.
When ic = critical angle.
Therefore
n2
sin i c =
n1
(note that n1 > n2) for light to bend away from the normal.
This simple calculation will give the critical angle.
What would the formula be for light going from a more dense medium into
air?
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
The critical angle, ic, occurs only at the interface where a higher
refractive index material meets with one that is of lower refractive index,
and not vice versa.
You may have seen total internal reflection in fish tanks or if you go
swimming and are under water looking up at an angle. The surface of
the water will look silver in that case because of total internal reflection.
At your practical session with your teacher you may shine a light ray
through the narrow end of a rectangular glass slab gradually increasing the
angle of incidence until the beam emerges parallel to the opposite face.
Any small increase in the angle of incidence beyond the critical angle will
result in the beam being internally reflected.

What is an optical-fibre?
Total internal reflection has many practical uses, one of which is in

opticalfibres.
The opticalfibre is one application of refraction that is now an almost

essential link in the telecommunications area. Opticalfibres are thin
cylinders of ultrahigh purity glass that have a central region called a core
and an outer region called the cladding.
The structure of an optical fibre is shown in the figure below.
lower refractive index

i r high refractive index
lower refractive index
normal
A light ray passing along an opticalfibre. The light is internally reflected at the
interface between the higher refractive index core and the lower refractive index
cladding but it still then obeys the law of reflection with the angle of incidence =
the angle of reflection.
How does an opticalfibre work?

Light entering the opticalfibre is guided along the core because of a
difference in the optical density between the higher refractive index core
and the lower refractive index cladding. To assist this process the
diameter of the core of most modern opticalfibres is made so small,
around 10 m, that only those rays parallel to the axis of the fibre can be
guided along the fibre.
The light waves transmitted by an opticalfibre are reflected off the

boundary between the high and low refractive index material, as shown
in the diagram of a crosssection of a fibre above. The smaller the
refractive index of the cladding compared to the refractive index of the

core, the smaller the critical angle is, allowing total internal reflection to
occur more easily.
Opticalfibres are used in a number of ways including:

communication for carrying signals precisely, and at the speed of
light. This is faster than energy transmission by electrons in electric
signals.
medicine. Opticalfibres are used by operating doctors to view
previously inaccessible places, such as the inside of a lung.
Opticalfibres are helpful in that:

they allow the transmission of light to or from places not usually
possible.
they can be bent, allowing light to be refracted easily and precisely
around many corners without the use of mirrors or reflective prisms
(as are used in binoculars).

Lenses
One of the main uses for refraction is the lens. Lenses can be used to
form images, not by reflecting light, but by bending it.
The diagram below shows wavefronts being refracted by a lens.
focus
O F
real image point to

which light wave
object source energy is concentrated
of light energy
region in which light
waves are made to
travel more slowly
Wavefronts being refracted by a lens.
Because it is easier to use rays to explain refraction in lenses the

refraction of light by lenses is typically shown using rays. This bending
of light occurs in lenses of optical instruments such as microscopes,
binoculars, spectacles, telescopes, cameras and slide projectors.

Convex and concave lenses
Lenses like mirrors are of two basic types. Converging also known as
convex lenses and diverging known as concave lenses.
Converging lenses focus parallel light rays to a point called the focus.
The diagram below shows a converging lens refracting light to a focus.
principal axis
F O F'
A converging lens (convex lens) focuses rays to a point.
Diverging lenses spread parallel light rays out. They appear to have
originated from a point where they originate from. The diagram below
shows a diverging lens.
F O F'
A diverging lens (concave lens).
You may have a converging lens at home. The magnifying glass is a

converging lens. Have you ever tried to concentrate the Suns rays at a
point to start a fire? If you have, you have seen the focussing of light at a
point by a converging or convex lens.

Uses of lenses
Lenses are used by people to:
correct visual defects,
see things that are too far away to be seen without help,
see things that are very small.
To do these tasks we use converging or diverging lenses.

Summary
In this part you have learned about reflection and refraction of

electromagnetic waves. These important properties of electromagnetic
radiation are used widely in applications involving communication and
optics. There is another property of electromagnetic radiation called
polarisation that enables us to use electromagnetic radiation effectively.
You will learn about this in the next part of this module.
Reminder: In part 6 return exercises you will need to identify data

sources and collect information about the Internet and the way that it uses
the digital process to send information from one computer to another.
You should continue to collect this information in preparation for
this exercise.
Complete a summary of the information you have learned about in this

part in the space below. Use the headings from each section as a guide.
In your summary consider how this part has related to the previous parts
of this module.

Appendix

Suggested answers
Observing reflection
a) Mirrorlike you would need a smooth surface.
b) Diffuse you would need a rough or disturbed surface.
Types of radio waves

1 They have the longest wavelengths. Longer wavelength
electromagnetic waves tend to be more penetrating.
2 The signal bounces from the ionosphere and the surface of the Earth
until it reaches the other side of the Earth.
Curved mirrors
a) A convex mirror has the reflecting surface on the inside of the curve.
b) A concave mirror has the reflecting surface on the outside of the
curve.
Using a soupspoon as a concave mirror
1 soup-spoon
upside down
laterally
inverted
(slightly
magnified
compared to
original object)

2 Diminished and inverted.
3 Gets bigger stays inverted then at the focal length disappears then
closer to the focal length it is upright and magnified.
4
greatly
magnified
rightway up
but back to
front
The image is now magnified and upright.

5 More magnified.
6 Cannot be projected onto a screen.
Using a soupspoon as a convex mirror

1 Gets bigger, stays upright.
2 Image gets more diminished.
3 No it cannot be projected onto a screen.
4 You can see more of the road behind you but the image is always
diminished so the objects are always closer than they appear.
5 Greater angle of vision that you could see with a plane mirror.
The astronomical telescope

Less of the atmosphere for the electromagnetic waves to penetrate at
higher altitude.
Torches
1 If the filament is at the focus then the torch will make a spot beam.
If the filament is above or below the focus then the torch will
produce a flood beam.

2 If you screw the reflector to a position where it has the focus of the
reflector at the filament position you will get a spot beam. If the
reflector is screwed so the filament is above or below the reflector
focus the torch will produce a flood beam.
What causes the bending of waves?

1 Light waves travel slower in the water. The stick appears to bend
away from the normal.
2 The waves bunch up so they have a smaller wavelength.
3 When a wave goes from one medium into another where its speed is
higher, the ray bends away from the normal.
4 The angle of incidence is less than the angle of refraction.
Calculating the critical angle

Sin ic = 1/n since the refractive index of air is essentially 1.

Exercises - Part 5
Exercise 5.1
An object is placed two metres in front of a plane mirror.
Complete the diagram to show the image formed from reflected light
from the plane mirror.
object mirror
Object in front of a plane mirror
Describe the image.

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

If the object is moved to half a metre from the mirror what will be the
distance between the image and the object?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 5.2
Two similar plane mirrors are placed together at 90 to each other as
shown in the figure below. Show that any ray incident on either mirror
will be reflected back along a parallel path because of the law of
reflection.
M1
M2
Two plane mirrors at 90 to one another.
Exercise 5.3
(a) Using the figure below determine the refractive index of the material
through which a light ray would pass to produce this figure. Assume
the ray is passing from air into the material. Use Snells law. You
will need to use a protractor to measure the angles r and i. Note this
is not glass nor is it a Perspex slab.

normal
(b) Explain using Snells law why the angle of emergence of the
light ray from the slab above is the same as the original angle of
incidence.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Exercise 5.4
Calculate the critical angle between the core and cladding in an
opticalfibre with the core having a refractive index of 1.46 and the
cladding a refractive index of 1.35.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Exercise 5.5
Light of wavelength 600 nm and frequency 5 10 Hz (in air is
14
refracted into glass having a measured refractive index of 1.5. Calculate

the values of:
(a) the velocity
(b) the wavelength
(c) the frequency of the light in the glass.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________

analyse so rays are used instead. Remember when you used rays when
you learned about reflection. This makes the diagram from above look
like the diagram shown in the figure below.
incident ray
v1 > v2
medium 1 1> 2
v1 i r>i
1
medium 2
v2
2 r
normal
refracted ray
Refraction of a ray drawn to represent a wavefront. Using rays you can easily
measure an angle of incidence and an angle of refraction. As the beam ray
passes from medium 1 where the wave is travelling faster to medium 2 where
the ray is travelling slower the ray is bent toward a normal ray.
Recall that the rays are drawn perpendicular to wavefronts and that the
angle of incidence and the angle of refraction are both measured from the
normal at the point of incidence at the medium interface.
Does this sound familiar? Think about reflection!
Notice carefully, that:
i r
This is because this is not reflection, it is refraction!
Write, in your own words, a definition for refraction.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Write, in your own words, a definition for reflection.

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

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Physics
Preliminary Course
Stage 6

Part 6: Applications
0 2
20
b er
c to T S
g O EN
a t in D M
o r EN
p
or AM
I n c
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................ 2
Polarisation................................................................................ 3
Polarisation in telecommunications.....................................................5
Global positioning system.......................................................... 6
Digitising information ................................................................. 9
How do digital signals work? ...............................................................9
Digitising a signal ...............................................................................11
Summary ................................................................................. 16
Appendix.................................................................................. 17
Exercises Part 6 ................................................................... 21
Bibliography............................................................................. 29
Student evaluation of module
Part 6: Applications 1
Introduction
This part relates to the module by establishing a connection between

advances in technology and their relationship to physical principles.
through a contextual link. The send in exercises at the end of this
module refer back to learning you have done throughout the entire
module.

identify types of communication data that are stored or transmitted in
digital form
discuss the developments in technology that allowed the production
of communication technologies, such as CD technology and Global
Positioning Systems (GPS)
In this part you will be given the opportunities to:

identify data sources, gather, process and present information from
secondary sources to identify areas of current research and use the
available evidence to discuss some of the underlying physical
principles used in one application of physics related to waves, such
as:
global positioning system
CD technology
the Internet (digital process)
DVD technology.
Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, amended Occtober
2002. The original and most uptodate version of this document can be found on the
Boards website at:

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Polarisation
Polarisation
The polarisation of light by refraction was first discovered in 1669 by
Erasmus Bartholin by looking at objects drawn on paper through a
crystal of the transparent mineral, Iceland spar. Iceland spar makes all
objects seen through it appear double. These double images are linearly
polarised in different directions.
The reason for this is that the light passes through the crystals along
different paths called optical axes. These have different refractive
indices. This means the light travels with different velocities in different
planes of the minerals.
Light can be polarised because it is a transverse wave. Longitudinal

waves cannot be polarised.
Normal unpolarised light vibrates in all planes as shown in the figure on

the left below. Essentially the vibrations are in a 360 plane. Linear
polarisation as shown in the figure on the right restricts the vibration of
the transverse wave to one plane ( in this case the ZX plane).
z z
y y
Nonpolarised and linearly polarised light.
Polarisation can also be achieved by passing a nonpolarised wave
through a polarising material. This material is called a polariser.
A Polaroid sheet can be used to polarise light. It acts as a polariser.

The Polaroid sheet is plastic made up of long molecules that allow
electromagnetic waves to pass in one plane only.
After light has passed through the polariser (Polaroid) it is changed to

vibrate only in the one plane as shown in the figure below. This is called
plane polarised light.
Polarised light can pass through a second sheet of Polaroid if its

polarising orientation is in the same direction as direction of polarisation
of the light.
If a second sheet of Polaroid is placed in the path of the polarised light

that has its polarising orientation at 90 to the first sheet of Polaroid
then the light will be completely blocked. This second sheet of
Polaroid is called an analyser.
light
blocked incident light
long molecules at right angles

to those in polariser
Unpolarised light passes through the polariser to become plane polarised. It is

then cut out completely by the analyser.
If the second Polaroid sheet (analyser) is oriented in the same direction

as the first Polaroid then there will be no change in the level of
polarisation of the light.
polariser allows to pass only

those waves which vibrate in the
plane of the long molecules
light
passes incident light
Two sheets of polarising material. The second sheet has no effect on the light
passing through the first.

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All electromagnetic waves can be polarized. That is because all

electromagnetic waves are transverse waves.
Polarisation in telecommunications
Yes, polarisation is used in telecommunications. Look at all external
aerials for television receivers. How are the aerials oriented? They are
all horizontal.
The antennas are all horizontal because the signal from the television
transmission tower is sent as a wave polarised in the horizontal direction.
This makes it easier for the television signal to get around barriers in
its path.
Another example of polarisation in telecommunications is the mobile

phone signal.
1 How are the aerials oriented at least those visible on phones with an
external aerial?
_____________________________________________________
2 What does this tell you about the polarisation direction of the signal
sent by mobile phone transmission antennas?
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
A practical application of mobile phone microwave transmissions being

polarised vertically is if your mobile phone signal is weak it may be
improved by holding the phone vertically!
Global positioning systems
The global positioning system (GPS) comprises a set of 24 satellites

orbiting the Earth in precise locations around 17600 km above the
surface of the Earth and a series of ground stations. More satellites are
being launched regularly. These will further improve the system.
The ground stations are in constant communication with the satellites by
radio communication. That communication accurately tells the satellites
exactly where they are with respect to the surface of the Earth at
any time.
Each satellite has an onboard atomic clock that gives it a precise time
base. Each signal that is sent by a satellite contains information about the
time that the signal was sent and from which satellite the signal was sent.
To ensure accuracy you must correct for any delays the signal
experiences as it travels through the atmosphere. Remember the
refractive index of the atmosphere changes as the composition and
density of the atmosphere changes vertically.
Why might correction for any delay the signal experiences as it travels
through the atmosphere be essential to determining position?
(Hint: Think about echo location and the wave equation).
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answer.
The need for a travel time correction means that the more satellites your
GPS receiver can see (a direct line of sight connection between the
satellite and GPS is required) the more accurately it can determine your
position.
Because of the satellites high altitude and the curvature of the Earth it
may be possible to see up to nine satellites at any time. Because the

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speed of transmission of the radio signal from the GPS is known, the
distance of each satellite from the GPS receiver on an imaginary sphere
drawn on the surface of the Earth is able to be very accurately calculated.
Since the precise position of all GPS satellites is known because of

information sent from stationary ground stations, the multiple possible
position readings on a semicircle on the Earths surface from a number of
satellites (at least 3) gives the position of the GPS receiver.
That position can be calculated as at the intersection of a number of

spheres of possible position. Only one solution for the GPS receiver
location is possible as there is only one intersection of the three (or more)
semicircular arcs. This means the position of your GPS receiver is
accurate to high precision.
The GPS satellites allow anyone owning a global positioning system

receiver to locate the position of their GPS receiver very precisely on the
surface of the earth. If a GPS receives the signal from three satellites it
can be located by a process called triangulation in terms of longitude and
latitude. If the GPS can detect the signal from a fourth satellite it can
also provide details about your GPS receivers altitude.
Modern GPS receivers can record multiple readings of position over time
at time intervals able to be set by the user. This means that it is therefore
easy to determine where the GPS receiver has been in the recent past.
These modern GPS receivers are data loggers.
Satellites send information about their position and

time of sending to the receiver in the GPS unit .
satellite 2 The satellites constantly broadast to
satellite 3 the GPS receivers on the ground.
satellite 1 satellite 4
Satellite 1
indicates the receiver
is along this arc
According to the signal

from satellite 3 the
receiver may be
anywhere along this arc.
A car Satellite 2
equipped indicates the receiver
with a GPS. is along this arc
Ground stations track satellites Receiver calculates the one point where the possible
and send information about the positions according to all satellites intersect.
position of satellites to the satellites.
How the global positioning system works.
For some more information on how a GPS works see links on the Physics
website page on the LMPC science web page at:
Use the data in the text above to make a list of the technological
developments that were required before the GPS system could be put
in place.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Check your answers.
Many modern mobile telephones have a built in GPS capability. In the

future you will always be able to tell exactly where you are with your
own personal communication device the mobile phone.

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Digitising information
Often data is sent along fibreoptic cables as a digitised signal.

Mobile phones now use a digital signal for data transmission, television
is broadcast as a digital signal in many parts of the world, the Internet
works because of digital transmission, and we all use digital storage
devices to reproduce the highest possible quality sound reproduction
from compact discs and DVDs.
How do digital signals work?

All digital signals work in basically the same way. A digital signal is
made from an initial frequency modulated (FM) or amplitude modulated
(AM) signal.
The best way to think of the digitising process applied on the signal
(called quantisation) is to remember when you were younger and played
join the dots. The actual wave shape is not sent by the signal but rather a
series of signal (= 1) or no signal (= 0) messages separated by a
precise time.
In 8bit processing the signal is represented as a series of numbers from

0 to 7 that are all possible to represent as binary digits using some
combination of three 0s or 1s.
These numbers representing the binary code are shown in the table in the
activity that follows. The value from 0 to 7 can then be used by decoding
device to reconstruct the wave.
The quantisation process is shown in the figure on the following page.

To increase the accuracy of the wave reconstruction we can do two things.
What are they?
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Check your answer.
the original waveform
looks like this
time
10
9
8
7
To digitise the waveform
6
we take regular snapshots
with each snapshot 5
separated precisely by the 4
same time period. 3
2
1
0
time
7 8 9 8 5 4 3 2 5 6
10
9
original waveform
8 reassembled waveform
7
These numbers received 6
are reassembled into a 5
wave.
4
Note the reassembled 3
wave isnt a good match 2
to the original. 1
0
time
7 8 9 8 5 4 3 2 5 6
35
30
To increase the accuracy 25
of the waveform received
compared to that sent we 20
increase the frequency of
samples and the number 15
of possible values of the 10
wave height.
5
0
time
The greater the number of samples per unit time and the smaller the divisions representing
the wave height the more accurate the wave reconstruction that is possible and the
more like the original waveform the reconstruction is.
The digitising process of a signal.

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Digitising a signal
You should now try to digitise the signal shown below and reconstruct
the signal. Follow the procedure described below.
You can practice the digitising process by completing this activity.

You will need the wave pattern and the binary code in the Appendix.
1 Cut along the dotted lines of the wave pattern.
2 Cut two slits in the paper encoding device.
3 Pull your wave through stopping every 5 seconds on the horizontal
scale to determine the quantisation value according to the slit scale.
4 Use the binary table to convert these values to a binary code.
5 Record the values on the signal in the slit scale number section in the
table below.
You will have to make decisions as to the slit scale value if the wave
is between values as you cant have a half value. As a rule take
values up on the slit scale if half or more than halfway to the next
value and down to the next value on the slit scale if less than halfway
to the next value.
6 Reconstruct a wave based on these binary values alone. Do this by
plotting your binary values on the graph and by joining the dots on
your wave with a ruler.
1 How does this reconstructed wave compare in shape to the original?
_____________________________________________________
2 If you were to sample every 1 s instead of every 5 s how would the

representation of the wave reconstructed based on quantised data be
different?
_____________________________________________________
Check your answers.
The wave signal conversion process to a digitised signal occurs by

sampling the electrical wave for the purpose of generating the numbers
that form part of the on (1) or off (0) data stream representing the wave.
Each sample, or digit, in the stream of numbers is called a bit.
Satisfactory reproduction of the sound of a human voice can occur using

digital phones, for example, if a sound wave in the range of 400 to 3400
Hz is sampled at a rate that generates 64 000 bits or samples each second.
Any transmission medium which has the capacity to carry 64 000 bits per
second (equivalent to 64 000 electrical pulses or light pulses second) will
therefore be able to carry the digital transmission representing sound in
the frequency range 400 to 3400 Hz.
Digital signals in telecommunications

Digital signals have great advantages over analogue signals because the
noise factor is irrelevant as long as the signal is registerable as an on =1
or off = 0. If this distinction can be made the signal can be reassembled
by the decoding device.
repeater
(analogue)
bumps are noise
repeater
(digital)
bumps are noise
A digital and analogue signal plus noise before and after clean up by a repeater
station.
The noise added to analogue signals can result in loss of signal quality.
Also if it is necessary to amplify the signal because of attenuation, the
noise is also amplified. This makes the analogue signal even noisier.
The onoff signal of the digital signal is clearer after amplification

because it is easy to tell whether it is a 1 or a 0 and it can be then cleaned
up. This is shown in the figure above.
The figure opposite shows a digital signal affected by noise. Note the
primary signal is still clear despite the noise.
The first telecommunications equipment to use digitising was Morse

code. Each letter of a message was made to represent a series of dots (on
signal with current flowing along the wire conductor for a short duration)
and dashes (off signal with current flowing along the wire conductor for
a longer duration).

digitised signal
plus noise
equals modified digital signal but it

is still clear whether the value is a one
or a zero
1
A digital signal is affected by noise. The nature of the signal is, however, still
clear.
A compact disc (CD) player is a digital device that interprets bumps on a

spiralling track on the mirrored surface of a CD as bits. The tracks on the
CD are narrow and the space between them is uniform as shown in the
figure below. These bits, represented by these pits are assembled into
bytes that are then played back through a digital-to-analogue converter to
produce sound or picture signals in a computer or stereo.
The CD itself is a three-layered plastic disc as shown in the figure on the

next page. The disc has the pits impressed into it during manufacture.
These pits are read by the CD player focussed laser as the CD spins.
The spin rate of the CD is adjusted to ensure the laser covers a constant
length of track per unit time. This ensures a regular data stream to a
digital-to-analogue converter. The bits are read by a laser beam
reflecting off the pits to an optical electrical sensor. The pits reflect
differently than the rest of the CD. The signal is read as a 0 (no pit) or 1
(pit) in digital form and is passed to a computer chip that can reassemble
the bits into bytes. This enables sound or picture signals to be
reconstructed.
A CD can store around 600 megabytes of information.
pits that make bumps label
on the other side acrylic
aluminium 125 nm (1.25 x 107 m)
1.2 mm polycarbonate plastic
pits are pressed into laser light

the polycarbonate disc directed
in circular tracks, this way
representing a digital signal
one track 500 nm

1 600 nm
another track
Laser light hits a bump that equals 1 or a no bump which equals 0.

The 1s and 0s are reassembled into numbers and used to reconstruct
the original sound (or picture) signal.
c
h e di r e ti o n o f t h e
in t CD
s p in
laser path
Compact disc tracks spiral out from the centre. The laser passes
along a track at constant speed because as the laser path moves
out from the centre the spin rate of the CD slows.
How the CD works and is constructed.
The more recent means of storing digital information on a disk is the

DVD.A DVD works similarly to a CD but has increased storage capacity
because the pits are smaller (less than half that of the CD), and the tracks
are closer together (less than half the separation distance). This means
more bytes per disk. DVD used in conjunction with readers can also
transfer data faster than from CDs because the density of the
information is about four times greater on a DVD than on a CD. That
has significant implications for data throughput rates. DVD technology
is obviously capable of faster data throughput.

A DVD may also have dual layer format. This means that the surface of
the DVD has 2 layers of reflective materials stacked on top of each other.
The layers have differences in their ability to reflect so it is possible for
the focus of the laser to be adjusted to reflect off one of the layers only.
As a result the dual layer format DVD can hold almost twice the amount
of information as a single layer DVD. This means a DVD can hold up to
8 hours of video. That represents around 18 Gbytes of information. To
enable the finer focusing of the laser required to read the data contained
in the smaller and closer pits on the DVD as compared to the CD a
smaller wavelength radiation laser is used in DVD readers.
More information about how a DVD and CD works can be found on the
Internet. Look at some pages that relate to CD and DVD technology on the
Physics website page.
http://www.lmpc.edu.au./science
Summary
As a summary for the unit draw a concept map that links as many as
possible of the ideas and main concepts developed in this module.

Appendix
cut out wave pattern along the dotted lines
slit scale
number
binary code
number
0 10 20 30 40 50 time
cut out wave pattern along the dotted lines
cut off here

binary code
slit scale
cut slit in paper along this dotted line

111 7
110 6
101 5
100 4
011 3
010 2
001 1
000 0
Feed wave pattern strip into here

moving the strip along one time
division each go. Record under each
time division the number from the slit
scale. Convert each time division
number to a binary number.
Suggested answers
Here are suggested answers for many of the questions from throughout
this part. Your answers should be similar to these answers. If your
answers are very different or if you do not understand an answer, contact
your teacher.
Polarisation in telecommunication
1 They are all oriented vertically.
2 They are polarised vertically.
What is the global positioning system?

The minor change in velocity could result in the distance being
miscalculated from the equation: distance = velocity time. If the
velocity is wrong the distance is wrong, hence the arc of possible
position determined by the satellite will be wrong.
Radio waves, rocketry, atomic clocks, computers, satellites,

geostationary orbits, ground based satellite trackers, the GPS unit itself.
How do digital signals work?

Take more samples at closer time intervals and increase the number of
divisions of the vertical scale.
Digitising a signal
1 A bad copy that doesnt truly represent the original.
2 A more accurate representation of the wave.
Exercises - Part 6
Exercise 6.1
Identify each of these waves as travelling in one two or three dimensions.
Sound from a thunderclap ________________________________
Radio waves from a star _________________________________
A compression pulse in a slinky spring _____________________
A water wave from a point source _________________________
Radio waves broadcast from a tall aerial ____________________
Sound from a submarine underwater _______________________
Exercise 6.2
In many science fiction movies the exploding space ship makes a large
bang that is heard by others in a distant space ship observing. Explain
which part of this scenario is true and which is not. Base your answer on
your knowledge of the properties of light and sound waves.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 6.3
Describe the relationship between the particle motion and the direction of
energy transfer for the following waves.
Sound from a thunderclap ________________________________
Radio waves from a star __________________________________
A compression pulse in a slinky spring ______________________
A water wave from a point source __________________________
Radio waves broadcast from a tall aerial _____________________
Sound from a submarine underwater ________________________
Exercise 6.4
Sketch a regular sine wave and on that wave label the following features:
crest
trough
wavelength
amplitude.
Exercise 6.5
An electromagnetic wave has a frequency of 7 1014 Hz and a
wavelength of 5 nm. What is the wave velocity?
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 6.6
Is the wave from the question above travelling in a vacuum or another
medium? Explain your answer.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Exercise 6.7
The following CRO traces were made using identical oscilloscope

settings by sound waves from sources identical distances from the
microphone. Identify which of the traces represents a sound with the
higher frequency. Explain your answer.
a
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_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Exercise 6.8
Which of the two preceding CRO traces would represent the loudest
sound? Explain your answer.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
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Exercise 6.9
If the first trace a) from above represents a sound wave of 320 Hz what
would be the approximate frequency of the second sound wave that
produced trace b)? Describe or show the method you used to calculate
this. You may like to draw on the diagrams and refer to them if it will
help your explanation.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 6.10
Discuss why it would not be possible to have an unlimited number of FM
radio stations broadcasting in the one city.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Exercise 6.11
Australian colour TV channel broadcast standards (2000) are described
as having the following characteristics:
Channel width 7 MHz sideband transmission
Vision carrier 1.25 MHz above lower edge of

channel
Vision modulation negative amplitude modulation
Lines per picture 625 lines interlaced 2:1
Line frequency 15625 Hz
Primary sound carrier 5.5 MHz above vision carrier
Secondary sound carrier 242.1875 kHz above primary sound

carrier
Sound modulation FM
(a) Explain why there is a need for two sound carrier frequencies.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
(b) Explain why you still get good sound quality reception during a
thunderstorm but picture quality declines.
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Exercise 6.12
To reduce the thickness of spectacles the optometrist suggested to her
patient that she might switch to perspex lenses rather than glass.
Knowing what you do about lenses and refractive indices of glass and
perspex explain why the optometrist would have suggested this change.
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Exercise 6.13
Identify data sources and collect information about the Internet and the
way that it uses the digital process to send information from one
computer to another. You might use newspaper computer lift-outs,
computer magazines, television, books, or the Internet itself to do this.
You should submit diagrams where appropriate and use no more than
200 words. Include a list of references you referred to in preparing your
answer.
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Bibliography
Board of Studies. 2002, Physics Stage 6 Syllabus.
Messel, H. 1963, Science for High School Students. The Nuclear

Foundation, University of Sydney.
OTEN. 1993, Physics for Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Sydney.
Student evaluation of the module
Name: _______________________ Location: ______________________
We need your input! Can you please complete this short evaluation to
provide us with information about this module? This information will
help us to improve the design of these materials for future publications.
1 Did you find the information in the module clear and easy to
understand?
_____________________________________________________
2 What did you most like learning about? Why?

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
3 Which sort of learning activity did you enjoy the most? Why?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
4 Did you complete the module within 30 hours? (Please indicate the
approximate length of time spent on the module.)
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
5 Do you have access to the appropriate resources? eg. a computer,

the internet, scientific equipment, chemicals, people that can provide
information and help with understanding science
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Please return this information to your teacher, who will pass it along to
the materials developers at OTEN DE.
PHY.Pre 43200 The world communicates

Learning Materials Production
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NSW Department of Education and Training

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The world communicates

Indicative time ...................................................................................... v

Icons ................................................................................................... vii

Part 1: Waves ..................................................................... 168

Part 2: Sound waves........................................................... 125

Part 3: Superposition .......................................................... 128

Part 4: Electromagnetic waves ........................................... 134

Part 5: Reflection and refraction ......................................... 161

Part 6: Applications ............................................................ 128

Student evaluation of the module

Through this Preliminary course in Physics you will gain an

In the Preliminary modules the Assumed Knowledge of the Science

The achievement of the outcomes - knowledge and understanding, skills,

Remember your teacher is there to help you!

Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, amended

Access to a computer, graphics calculator and the Internet are aids to

For Part 1 you will need access to:

For Part 2 you will need access to:

For Part 3 you will need access to:

For Part 4 you will need access to:

For Part 5 you will need access to:

For Part 6 you will need access to:

viii Th world communicates

resolution ability to distinguish points that are close

The world communicates

What do you know now?.....................................................................8

What is a wave anyway?......................................................... 12

What is the source of waves?...........................................................13

What is the wave model?..................................................................16

Waves are carriers of energy .................................................. 17

Examples of waves ...........................................................................17

Do waves carry energy? ...................................................................19

Wave detectors .................................................................................20

Evidence of energy transfer..............................................................21

Waves in one dimension...................................................................21

Waves in two dimensions .................................................................23

Drawing waves, rays and wavefronts...............................................25

Experimenting with water waves ......................................................27

Waves in three dimensions...............................................................28

The features of waves ............................................................. 31

How can waves be classified?................................................. 39

Can you make a longitudinal wave? ................................................40

Making a transverse wave................................................................42

Simple harmonic motion ...................................................................47

What does frequency mean? ...........................................................50

Frequency, wavelength and velocity................................................52

Wave velocity, v ................................................................................53

Using the wave equation ......................................................... 55

Can you use the wave equation?.....................................................56

Communication devices and waves......................................... 59

Suggested answers ................................................................. 63

Exercises Part 1.................................................................... 69

2 The world communicates

In Part 1, you will be given opportunities to learn to:

In this part you will be given opportunities to:

Extract from Physics Stage 6 Syllabus Board of Studies NSW, amended

4 The world communicates

Humans are social animals. They need to communicate to maintain their

To speed communication of information you can use a broad range of the

Most of us now accept the transfer of live sporting or cultural events

Here are some of the events in communication system development you

Try to imagine how each of these advances has impacted on society.

6 The world communicates