Physics – Work sheet

Topic: sound
Work sheet - 1

1. The diagram represents a wave.

How many wavelengths are there between X and Y?

2. (a) An electric bell hangs from flexible wires inside a glass bell-jar, as shown in Fig. 2.1.

(i) When air is present in the bell-jar, the electric bell can be heard ringing clearly.
What properties of sound does this observation illustrate?

Tick the box alongside any appropriate answer

(2)
(ii) As the vacuum pump removes the air from the bell-jar, the sound becomes quieter.
Eventually the sound cannot be heard at all, even though the bell can still be seen to be
working.

Suggest what property of sound this observation demonstrates.

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(b) Fig. 2.2 illustrates a quarry where rock blasting is being carried out.
 An engineer at P sees the blast of an explosion at X, and after a short delay he hears two
bangs separated by a very short interval.

(i) Explain why the engineer hears two bangs.

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(ii) The distance PX is 195 m and the short delay between seeing the blast and hearing
the first bang is 0.60 s. Calculate the speed of sound.

speed = ......................................... m / s [3]

3. (a) State the range of frequencies of sound which can be heard by a healthy human ear.
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(b) Compressions and rarefactions occur along the path of sound waves. State, in terms of
the behaviour of molecules, what is meant by

(i) a compression,
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(ii) a rarefaction.
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(c) State the effect on what is heard by a listener when there is (i) an increase in the
amplitude of a sound,
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(ii) a decrease in the wavelength of a sound.

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(d) A student carries out an experiment to find the speed of sound in air. He stands
facing a high cliff and shouts. He hears the echo 1.9 s later. He then walks 250 m further
away from the cliff and shouts again, hearing the echo 3.5 s later.

Calculate the speed of sound given by this experiment.

 speed = ..................................................[3] [Total: 8]

4. Which row shows an example of a transverse wave and an example of a longitudinal

wave?

5. A boy throws a small stone into a pond. Waves spread out from where the stone hits the
water and travel to the side of the pond.

The boy notices that eight waves reach the side of the pond in a time of 5.0s.

What is the frequency of the waves?

A 0.20Hz B 0.63Hz C 1.6Hz D 40Hz

6. A loudspeaker on a boat produces a pulse of sound in the sea. The echo of the pulse is
received back at the boat after 3.0 s. The depth of the sea under the boat is 2250m.

From this information, what is the speed of sound in the sea water?

A 330m/ s B 750m/ s C 1500m/ s D 6750m/ s

7. (a) State what is meant by the frequency of the vibration of a vibrating object.
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(b) Fig. 7.1 shows a tuning fork. Its frequency is indicated by the number on the handle.
When the tuning fork is struck on a solid surface, the prongs A and B vibrate as
indicated by the arrows.

(i) Explain how a sound is produced and transmitted when the prongs are vibrating.
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(ii) After the tuning fork was struck on the solid surface, the sound from the tuning fork
gradually gets quieter. State what happens to the tuning fork to cause this.
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(iii) Another tuning fork is marked with 256 Hz, to indicate its frequency. State how the
sound from this tuning fork compares with the sound from the tuning fork in Fig. 7.1.
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..............................................................................................................................[2] [Total: 8]