Waves and Light Unit Exam Practice Questions

1. What are the amplitude and wavelength of the wave shown below ?

2. The diagram below shows two waves, A and B. The phase difference between A and B is

3. The periodic wave in the diagram below has a frequency of 40. Hz. What is the speed of the wave ?

4. As shown in the diagram below, a transverse wave is moving with velocity v along a rope.

5. The diagram below represents shallow water waves passing through two small openings, A and B, in a barrier.

6. When a transverse wave is moving through a medium, what is the action of the particles of the medium ?
They travel through the medium with the wave.
They vibrate parallel to the direction the wave is moving.
They vibrate perpendicular to the direction the wave is moving.
They remain at rest.

7. If the period of a wave is doubled, its wavelength will be
halved doubled unchanged quartered

8. A wave spreads into the region behind a barrier. This phenomenon is called
diffraction reflection refraction interference

9. If the frequency of a sound wave is 400 Hz, its period is closest to
2.27 x 10^-3 s 0.75 s 1.33 s 3.31 x 10² s

10. Wave motion in a medium transfers
energy only mass only both mass and energy neither mass nor energy

11. A car's horn is blowing as the car moves at a constant velocity toward an observer. Compared to the frequency of
the sound wave emitted by the horn, the observed frequency is
constant and lower constant and higher the same varying and lower

12. The change in the direction of a wave when it passes obliquely from one medium to another is called
diffraction interference reflection refraction

13. Which wave phenomenon could not be demonstrated with a single wave pulse ?
standing wave diffraction reflection refraction

14. As a wave enters a medium, there may be a change in the wave's
frequency speed period phase

15. As a wave is refracted, which characteristic of the wave will remain unchanged ?
velocity wavelength frequency direction

16. The number of water waves passing a given point each second is the wave's
wavelength amplitude frequency velocity

17. Sound waves with a constant frequency of 250 Hz are traveling through air at STP. What is their wavelength ?
0.76 m 1.3 m 250 m 83,000 m

18. What is the frequency of a wave with a period of 0.005 s ?
5 Hz 100 Hz 200 Hz 2000 Hz

19. What is the wavelength of a 30 Hz periodic wave moving at 60 m/s ?
0.50 m 2.0 m 20. m 1800 m

20. Two waves have the same frequency. Which wave characteristic must also be identical for both waves ?
phase amplitude intensity period

21. A single vibratory disturbance which moves from point to point in a material medium is known as a
phase pulse distortion wavelet

22. Which point on a wave is 180^o out of phase with a wave crest ?
rest position crest trough

23. If the frequency of a sound wave remains constant, its energy can be varied by changing its
amplitude speed wavelength period

24. In which type of wave is the disturbance parallel to the direction of wave travel ?
torsional longitudinal transverse circular

25. A driver of a car hears the siren of an ambulance which is moving away from her. If the actual frequency
of the siren is 2000 Hz, the frequency heard by the driver may be
1900 Hz 2000 Hz 2100 Hz 4000 Hz

26. In order for standing waves to form in a medium, two waves must
have the same frequency have different amplitudes    have different wavelengths travel in the same direction

27. In which diagram below could the light source and optical device be used to demonstrate the phenomenon of dispersion ?

28. A ray of monochromatic light traveling in air enters a rectangular glass block obliquely and strikes a plane mirror
at the bottom. Then the ray travels back through the glass and strikes the air-glass interface. Which diagram below
best represents the path of this light ray ? [N represents the normal to the surface.]

29. A ray of monochromatic light (f = 5.09 x 10¹⁴ Hz) traveling in air is incident on an interface with a liquid (n = 1.4)
at an angle of 45^o, as shown in the diagram below.

30. The diagram below shows light rays in air about to strike a glass window.

31. The diagram below shows parallel rays of light incident on an irregular surface.

32. A light ray is incident on a plane mirror as shown in the diagram below.

33. A ray of light hits a mirror at an angle of incidence of 30^o. What is the angle between the incident and reflected rays ?
15^o 30^o 45^o 60^o

34. A person is standing 5 meters from a plane mirror. The chair in front of the person is 2 meters from the mirror.

Base your answers to questions 9 and 10 on the diagram below, which represents a light ray traveling from air to Lucite
to medium Y and back into air.

37. The diagram below represents a ray of monochromatic light (f = 5.09 x 10¹⁴ Hz) passing from
medium X (n = 1.46) into fused quartz.

38. A ray of monochromatic light is traveling in flint glass. The ray strikes the flint glass-air interface at an angle
greater than the critical angle for flint glass. Which diagram best represents the path of this light ray ?

39. The diagram below shows an antenna emitting an electromagnetic wave.

40. Which diagram best represents light emitted from a coherent light source ?

41. Which of the following colors has the highest frequency ?
red yellow blue violet

42. Which of the following colors has the shortest wavelength ?
red yellow blue violet

43. Which of the following electromagnetic energies has the shortest wavelength ?
infrared yellow light orange light x-rays

44. In a double-slit experiment, which of the following colors will produce the largest distance between maxima ?
yellow green blue violet

45. The fact that light can be polarized lead to the conclusion that light is a
particle compressional wave torsional wave transverse wave

46. Longitudinal (compressional) waves cannot be
refracted diffracted reflected polarized

47. When light passes through a double-slit, it is
reflected and refracted reflected and polarized diffracted and interferes with itself diffracted and polarized

48. A light ray reflects off a mirror. If the angle between the incident and reflected rays is 30^o, the angle of incidence is
15^o 30^o 60^o 90^o

49. When light passes from water into lucite, it will
bend away from the normal bend toward the normal not bend at all

50. If the speed of light in a medium is 1.5 x 10⁸ m/s, what is the index of refraction of the medium ?
1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

51. When light bounces off a piece of paper, we see the paper because of
diffuse reflection regular reflection diffraction dispersion

52. A ray of monochromatic light travels from air into a material whose index of refraction is 1.4. What is the
speed of light in this material ?
1.4 x 10⁸ m/s 2.1 x 10⁸ m/s 2.5 x 10⁸ m/s 3.0 x 10⁸ m/s

53. Light travels from medium A into medium B. The angle of refraction in medium B is 90^o. Compared to the index
of refraction of medium A, the index of refraction of medium B must be
greater lower the same

54. What is the color of light with a frequency of 5.7 x 10¹⁴ Hz ?
red orange green blue

55. How far will light travel in a vacuum in one minute ?
1.8 x 10¹⁰ m 5.0 x 10⁶ m 2.0 x 10^-7 m 3.0 x 10¹² m

56. As monochromatic light passes from air into glass, which of the following will remain the same ?
wavelength speed frequency

57. What occurs when light passes from water into flint glass ?
Its speed decreases, its wavelength becomes shorter, and its frequency remains the same.
Its speed decreases, its wavelength becomes shorter, and its frequency increases.
Its speed increases, its wavelength becomes longer, and its frequency remains the same.
Its speed increases, its wavelength becomes longer, and its frequency decreases.

58. If the angle of incidence in air is 30^o, what is the sine of the angle of refraction in crown glass ?
1.52 0.33 0.50 0.28