Sound

Know the facts Key words

1. Sound consists of vibrations which travel as a longitudinal wave through 1 Vibration: A back and forth motion that repeats.
substances. The denser the medium, the faster sound travels.
2. The greater the amplitude of the wave, the louder the sound. 2 Longitudinal wave: Where the direction of vibration is the same as that of
the wave.
3. The greater the frequency (the shorter the wavelength), the higher the pitch. 3 Volume: How loud or quiet a sound is, in decibels (dB).

4. The speed of sound in air is 330 m/s, a million times slower than light. E.g. You 4 Pitch: How low or high a sound is. A low (high) pitch sound has a low (high)
will see lightening and then see thunder. frequency.
5. As you get older, you lose the ability to hear very high and very low pitched 5 Amplitude: The maximum amount of vibration, measured from the middle
sound. position of the wave, in metres.
6. Sound does not travel through a vacuum because there are no particles 6 Wavelength: Distance between two corresponding points on a wave, in
metres.
7. An echo is a reflection of a sound wave. 7 Frequency: The number of waves produced in one second, in hertz.
8. An insulating material can be used to sound proof and absorb sound waves. 8 Vacuum: A space with no particles of matter in it.

The structure of a wave

High pitched sounds have long Loud sounds have large

Transverse waves have oscillations perpendicular (at 90°) to the
wavelengths whilst quiet sounds amplitudes whilst quiet sounds
direction of motion.
Examples of transverse waves are light, water waves and the secondary waves have shorter wavelengths. have smaller amplitudes.
produced by an Earthquake.
 SONAR

An ultrasound pulse is made and depending on

how quickly it comes back you can work out how
far away you are.

We can calculate the distance between two objects

using the following equation:

Distance = Speed x Time

How do we hear sounds? As the wave is reflected the time the echo takes to
return is divided by 2.
1. Sound waves are collected by the outer ear. 4. The cochlea turns these into electrical signals.

2. The waves make the ear drum vibrate. 5. The auditory nerve takes the signals to the brain. The speed of sound is about 330 m/s in air and 1500 m/s in water.

3.The small bones (ossicles) amplify the vibrations.

Echolocation

Animals such as bats use this

Ultrasound
concept to work out the
High frequency sound waves (above location of their prey.
20,000Hz) are sent out from a transmitter.
The bat sends out a sound
Reflected waves are used to determine
wave which is reflected off the
the position of the foetus. This
body of the prey animal. The
information is used to generate an image
bat can then determine the
of the foetus (ultrasound scan).
distance of the prey animal.
 Light
Know the facts Key words
1. Light travels as a transverse wave. 1.Incident ray: The incoming ray.
2. The law of reflection states that angle of incidence is equal to the angle of 2.Reflected ray: The outgoing ray.
reflection.
3. When light enters a denser medium it bends towards the normal; when it 3.Normal line: From which angles are measured, at right angles to the
enters a less dense medium it bends away from the normal. surface.
4. Light travels at 300 million metres per second in a vacuum. 4.Refraction: Change in the direction of light going from one material into
another.
5. Different colours of light have different frequencies. 5.Transparent: A material that allows all light to pass through it.
6. When a light ray meets a different medium, some of it is absorbed and some 6.Translucent: A material that allows some light to pass through it.
reflected.
7. Prisms disperse white light to produce a continuous spectrum 7.Opaque: A material that allows no light to pass through it.
8. Photoreceptors are sensitive to light – there are 2 types rods and cones 8.Retina: Layer at the back of the eye with light detecting cells and where
image is formed.
How do we see objects?
Refraction
Reflection We see objects when light from them enters our eyes.
Some objects are light sources and give out light (such as
the sun or a light bulb). Otherwise, light reflects off
objects and travels into our eye (as shown in the diagram
on the left).
The structure of the eye

The ray diagram above shows that Refraction occurs when a ray of light changes direction. This
light travels in straight lines. happens when light moves from one medium to another
(e.g from a gas to a liquid).
The arrows show that light always
travels from a light source. Light travels fastest in a gas, then a liquid, then a solid. This
is due to the density of the particles (how closely packed
they are.)
 When white light passes through a prism (glass
block) it splits into seven different colours.
The colour spectrum
Light is refracted when it
enters the prism, and
each colour is refracted
by a different amount.
This means that the light
leaving the prism is
spread out into its
different colours, a
process called dispersion.

A coloured filter changes white light by only allowing red Whe a ray of light enters a glass block it
part of the spectrum through it. bends towards the normal line because it
orange
slows down.
yellow
The angle of incidence and the angle of
green
emergence are equal, since the speed of
blue light in air is the same.
A red filter turns white light red (shown In the
indigo
diagram above).
```` violet
Why does the apple appear to be red?

Coloured light

There are three primary colours in light:

red, green and blue. Light in these colours
can be added together to make the
secondary colours magenta, cyan and
The apple reflects red light which travels into the man’s
yellow. All three primary colours added
together make white light.
eye. All other colours in the spectrum are absorbed.