Deck 6: Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation: What Is Color

Question 1

Which of the following is associated with 440 Hz?

A) middle A musical note
B) an AM radio station
C) an FM radio station
D) a television station
E) high C musical note

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What is the velocity of a wave if the distance between the crests is 8 ft and 20 waves go by every 10 seconds?

A) 32 ft/sec
B) 16 ft/sec
C) 8 ft/sec
D) 4 ft/sec
E) 160 ft/sec

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is the same for all kinds of electromagnetic waves?

A) frequency
B) speed
C) energy
D) wavelength
E) transmission

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What practical use has been found for gamma rays?

A) detecting the speed of a moving vehicle
B) generating light and heat
C) cooking food and heating water
D) medical applications
E) carrying radio signals

Question 5

Another word for constructive interference is

A) amplitude.
B) destructive.
C) reinforcement.
D) Doppler effect.
E) acceleration.

Question 6

Which property of electromagnetic waves is measured in Hertz?

A) amplitude
B) speed
C) frequency
D) length
E) energy

Question 7

Albert Michelson was the first U.S. scientist to win the Nobel Prize. His prize was for

A) his studies of light.
B) his research into static electricity.
C) proving Maxwell's equations all over again.
D) his discovery of the solar wind.
E) his work with accelerating electrical charges.

Question 8

Bats navigate by emitting high pitched sound waves and

A) killing all the moths within 10 meters.
B) attracting various insects toward the sound.
C) listening for an echo.
D) calculating wave crests per second.
E) hoping humans do not hear them.

Question 9

The Doppler effect describes

A) how bats fly and locate their food.
B) the way frequency of a wave appears to change from a moving source.
C) sound wave frequency from a resting source.
D) how dolphins navigate in the world's oceans.
E) how humans see the colors red and blue.

Question 10

White materials scatter all wavelengths of visible light in all directions in a process called

A) reflection
B) Diffuse scattering
C) refraction
D) transmission
E) absorption

Question 11

Which sound wave frequency is outside the range of a human's ability to detect?

A) 20 Hz
B) 200 Hz
C) 2000 Hz
D) 20000 Hz
E) 200000 Hz

Question 12

How fast can light travel in one second, if it is moving through a vacuum?

A) 186,000 feet
B) 30,000 meters
C) 18, 600 miles
D) 300,000 kilometers
E) 3,000,000 miles

Question 13

Which wave does not need a medium?

A) ocean wave
B) sound wave
C) X-ray
D) seismic wave
E) ripples on water

Question 14

If you are observing a light source moving very rapidly towards you, the Doppler effect predicts that the light will be

A) redshifted.
B) blueshifted.
C) bent.
D) transmitted.
E) radiated.

Question 15

Light passing through a window glass is an interaction called

A) transmission.
B) absorption.
C) scattering.
D) reflection.
E) diffusion.

Question 16

Compared to microwave radiation, infrared radiation

A) has shorter wavelengths.
B) has longer wavelengths.
C) is a faster wave.
D) is a slower wave.
E) is visible to the human eye.

Question 17

Sound waves with low frequencies

A) have low amplitudes if they are loud.
B) travel at faster speeds than sound waves with high frequency.
C) have long wavelengths.
D) have high pitches.
E) are more likely to experience destructive interference.

Question 18

Which statement best describes transverse waves?

A) Transverse waves are a special type of longitudinal wave.
B) In a transverse wave, particles move in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is moving.
C) The transverse wave moves particles in the direction that the wave is moving.
D) All of these.
E) Echoes are formed from transverse waves.

Question 19

Which is associated with broadcast radio waves?

A) amplitude modulation
B) frequency slices or bands
C) "radio window" in the atmosphere
D) frequency modulation
E) electron motion in an antenna

Question 20

What causes an electromagnetic wave to be emitted?

A) writing an equation that has the wave form in it
B) destructive interference of sound waves
C) trying to separate electrical from magnetic phenomena
D) acceleration of an electric charge
E) constructive interference of any kind of wave

Question 21

Extremely low-frequency radiation (ELF) has been in the news since the early 1980s. Discuss this radiation from the point of view of a scientist, a medical doctor, and a homeowner living in the shadow of overhead power lines.

Question 22

The fundamental difference between electromagnetic waves and other types of waves is that electromagnetic waves

A) move more slowly than all other types of waves.
B) are invisible regardless of wavelength.
C) do not experience constructive or destructive interference.
D) transfer energy without transferring mass.
E) all have the same wavelength.

Question 23

What is fluorescence?

Question 24

A light wave has a wavelength of about

A) a few meters to more than a few thousand kilometers.
B) a meter to a millimeter.
C) a millimeter to a micron.
D) 700 to 400 nanometers.
E) 400 to 100 nanometers.

Question 25

How do AM and FM radio stations differ in the way they transmit signals?

Question 26

Research has begun to develop a more powerful X-ray source. How will this new tool be applied to problems in society?

Question 27

Why do all waves on the electromagnetic spectrum travel at the speed of light? Give examples of these waves.

Question 28

Calculate the length of a radio wave picked up by a car radio tuned to the FM frequency of 89.3.

Question 29

Which type of radiation can be used to sterilize medical equipment?

A) microwave radiation
B) ultraviolet radiation
C) fluorescence
D) infrared radiation
E) radio waves

Question 30

How can destructive interference affect how a person enjoys music in an auditorium?

Question 31

What controls the range and pitch of sound in musical instruments?

Question 32

Discuss the allocation of the electromagnetic spectrum as currently controlled by the Federal Communication Commission. What are the positive and negative points of the federal licensing policy?

Question 33

How is the Doppler effect used in applied technology?

Question 34

The ability of microwave ovens to cook food depends partly upon the fact that microwaves

A) are absorbed quickly by water molecules, which does nothing to heat food.
B) are absorbed quickly by water molecules, which generates heat.
C) are reflected by the interior of an oven, which causes heat to be generated in the oven wall.
D) tend to be absorbed in dry air and thus heat the whole oven and its contents.
E) are scattered by water molecules, which helps heat the glass door of the oven.

Question 35

How are velocity, frequency, and length of each wave related?

Question 36

Identify a material that will absorb each of the following: radio waves, microwaves, and visible light.

Question 37

What are some practical applications of infrared radiation?

Question 38

What is unique about electromagnetic waves? Give a few examples.

Question 39

What is the difference between a transverse and a longitudinal wave?

Question 40

Human skin is a crude detector for what type of electromagnetic radiation?

A) visible light
B) infrared radiation
C) X-rays
D) gamma rays
E) radio waves

Question 41

Why does a rainbow always have the same colors in the same order?

Question 42

When a water wave with a positive amplitude of one meter meets another water wave with a negative amplitude of one meter, what will be the result? Explain.

Question 43

Write a formula that shows the mathematical relationship of organ pipe length (in meters) to velocity of sound waves in air (in meters/second) and frequency of the sound (in Hertz).

Question 44

Explain how "noise canceling" headphones might work in a noisy environment.

Question 45

How did the Michelson and Morley experiment of 1887 show that there was no such thing as ether? What was the concept of ether?

Question 46

Mirrors, like other opaque surfaces, scatter light that falls on them. With mirrors, the scattering is different from most surfaces like the surface of white paper, for example. Explain the difference in the way a mirror "scatters" light.

Question 47

What is the formula for the frequency of visible light? Using this formula, explain what will happen to the frequency when yellow light (580 nanometers) is slowed down slightly when it passes through a crystal.

Question 48

Describe how popcorn pops in a microwave oven.

Question 49

A toy boat is floating on a small pond. If you threw a rock behind the boat (and thus created a wave), would the boat move forward? Why or why not?