Wave Phenomena Practice Test

Review the following concepts if needed:

• Wave Phenomena Help
• Intangible Waves Help
• Fundamental Properties Help
• Wave Interaction Help
• Wave Mysteries Help
• Particle or Wave? Help
• Harmonics and Resonance Help
• Physics and Beats Help
• Diffraction Help

Wave Phenomena Practice Test

A good score is eight correct. Answers are given at the end.

1. Two radio waves, one having a frequency of 400.0 kHz and the other having a frequency of 1.250 MHz, are heterodyned together. Which of the following is a beat frequency?

(a) 320.0 kHz

(b) 500.0 kHz

(c) 3.125 MHz

(d) 0.850 MHz

2. Which of the following types of waves are longitudinal?

(a) Swells on the surface of the ocean

(b) EM waves in a vacuum

(c) Sound waves in the air

(d) Gravitational waves in interstellar space

3. What is the wavelength of a disturbance whose frequency is 500 Hz?

(a) 2.00 mm

(b) 20.0 mm

(c) 200 mm

(d) It cannot be calculated from this information.

4. In which of the following situations would you expect diffraction to occur to the greatest extent?

(a) Visible-light waves around a utility pole

(b) High-pitched sound waves around a cylindrical grain silo

(c) Low-pitched sound waves around the corner of a building

(d) Diffraction would occur to an equal extent in all of these scenarios.

5. The corpuscular theory of light is good for explaining

(a) the pressure a ray of light exerts when it strikes an obstruction.

(b) the interference patterns produced in double-slit experiments.

(c) refraction of light at the surface of a body of water.

(d) the way a prism splits light into the colors of the rainbow.

6. What is the period of an EM wave in free space whose wavelength is 300 m?

(a) 1.00 × 10 ⁻⁶ s

(b) 3.33 × 10 ⁻³ s

(c) 1.00 × 10 ⁶ s

(d) It cannot be calculated from this information.

7. An acoustic sine wave

(a) spans the entire range of audible frequencies.

(b) concentrates sound at a single frequency.

(c) is high-pitched.

(d) is low-pitched.

8. What is the wavelength of an EM disturbance consisting of photons that all have 2.754 × 10 ⁻²⁰ J of energy in free space?

(a) 7.213 × 10 ⁻⁶ m

(b) 5.471 × 10 ⁻⁶ m

(c) 7.213 × 10 ⁻⁴⁵ m

(d) 5.471 × 10 ⁻⁴⁵ m

9. What is the energy contained in each photon of an acoustic disturbance whose frequency is 700 Hz?

(a) 4.64 × 10 ⁻³¹ J

(b) 9.47 × 10 ⁻³⁷ J

(c) 0.00143 J

(d) The question makes no sense; acoustic disturbances have no photons. 

10. Sound waves propagate at approximately 335 m/s in the Earth’s atmosphere at sea level. What is the wavelength of an acoustic disturbance whose frequency is 440 Hz?

(a) 1.31 m

(b) 147 km

(c) 76.1 cm

(d) It cannot be calculated from this information.

Answers

1. d

2. c

3. d

4. c

5. a

6. a

7. b

8. a

9. d

10. c