Key for Waves Unit 2, Worksheet 5

1. The illustration below shows a series of transverse waves. Label each part in the space provided.
a. crest
a b
b. wavelength
c. amplitude c
d. trough
e
e. amplitude f
f. wavelength d g
g. equilibrium position
Fill in the blanks:
2. Waves carry energy from one place to another.
3. The highest point on a transverse wave is the crest while the lowest part is the trough .
4. The amplitude is the height of the wave.
5. The distance from one crest to the next is the wavelength .
6. Below are a number of series of waves. Underneath each diagram write the numbers of waves in the series.

A. C. D.
B.

1½ 1 2½ ½
a. Which of the above has the biggest amplitude? A
b. Which of the above has the shortest wavelength? C
c. Which of the above has the longest wavelength? D

7. Express in words and mathematically the relationship between

1 1
a. period and frequency: The period is inversely proportional to the frequency.   or  
f f
b. wavelength and frequency: The wavelength is inversely proportional to the frequency.
1 v
 or  
f f

c. wavelength and period: The wavelength is directly proportional to the period.

   or   v

8. Consider a wave generator that produces 10 pulses per second. The speed of the waves is 300 cm/s:
a. What is the wavelength of the waves?
v 300cm / s
10 pulses per second is a frequency of 10 Hz.     30.0cm
f 10 1s
b. What happens to the wavelength if the frequency of pulses is increased?
Since they are inversely proportional, if the frequency is increased, the wavelength decreases.

©Modeling Instruction Program 2004 1 W2, Mechanical Waves in 1D, WS 5 v3.2

9. A wave on Beaver Dam Lake passes by two docks that are 40.0 m apart.
a. If there is a crest at each dock and another three crests between the two docks, determine the
wavelength Dock
Dock From 1 dock to the other is 4 waves.
40.0m/4 = 10.0 m per wave

b. If 10 waves pass one dock every 16.0 seconds, determine the period and frequency of the wave.

16 s
Period is the time for one wave  1.6 s for one wave
10 waves
1
Frequency is the inverse of the period or  .625 Hz
1.6 s

c. What is the speed of the wave? v  f  .625 1s (10m)  6.25 ms

10. Sally Sue, an enthusiastic physics student enjoyed the opportunity to collect data from standing
waves in a spring. She and her partner held the ends of their spring 4.00 meters apart. There were 5
nodes in the standing wave produced. Sally moved her hand from the rest position back and forth
along the floor 20 times in 4.00 s. Sketch the situation and determine the following:

4m
a. the wavelength of the wave Sally Sue sent:    2.00 m
2 waves

20
b. the frequency of the wave produced: f   5.00 1
s  5.00 Hz
4.00 s

c. the speed of the wave: v  f  5.00 1s (2.00 m)  10.0 ms

11. What frequency and period would be required for Sally and her cheerful, pleasant, hard-working
partner to produce a standing wave with three nodes? Explain your reasoning by identifying your
steps.
First the sketch shows that 3 nodes means 1 wave is present. The wavelength is determined by
dividing the length of the spring by the number of waves. Since the wave speed is constant as long as
the tension is the same, the frequency can be determined by dividing the speed by the wavelength.

4m v 10.0 ms
  4.00 m , f    2.50 1
 2.50 Hz
1 waves  4.00 m s

1 1
   .400s
f 2.5 1s

12. The wavelength of a sound wave in this room is 1.13 m and the frequency is 301 Hz.
a. What is the speed of the wave in the room?

©Modeling Instruction Program 2004 2 W2, Mechanical Waves in 1D, WS 5 v3.2

 v  f  301 1s (1.13 m)  340. ms

b. If you double the frequency of the sound wave, determine its speed.
The speed stays the same. The frequency is independent of the speed.

c. What happens to the wavelength if you cut the frequency in half? How do you know?
The wavelength doubles. Since they are inversely proportional, if the frequency is cut in half,
the wavelength doubles. (2 is the inverse of ½)

©Modeling Instruction Program 2004 3 W2, Mechanical Waves in 1D, WS 5 v3.2