an oscilloscope is a piece of equipment that can display a representation of a sound wave.

a displacement-time graph shows how the displacement of one part of a wave changes as the wave moves forward.

the period of a wave is the time for one complete oscillation.

the frequency of a wave is the number of complete oscillations in one second.

the loudness of a sound wave is a measure of how loud it is.

Oscilloscope

Combined science

In the Electromagnetic waves unit, they will build on this knowledge to learn about the reflection and refraction of light, other types of electromagnetic radiation in the EM spectrum and the helpful and harmful effects of each type of radiation.

In the Waves unit, pupils learnt about the properties and propagation of transverse and longitudinal waves.

Measuring waves

What sort of graph is shown on an oscilloscope?

What type of sound causes the height of a graph on an oscilloscope to increase?

What type of sound causes the length of wave on a graph on an oscilloscope to increase?

What is the distance between two wave crests on an oscilloscope graph equal to?

An oscilloscope shows two complete waves on a screen and it takes 0.1 s for the line to move across the screen. What is the period of the wave?

The period of a wave is 0.05 s.  How many complete waves are seen on the screen of an oscilloscope if it takes 0.2 s for the line to move across the screen?

What does a loudspeaker do when it makes a louder sound?

What causes a soundwave to have a bigger amplitude?

What sort of sound has a bigger amplitude?

What does a loudspeaker do when it makes a higher pitched sound?

What causes a sound to have a lower frequency?

What sort of sound has a higher frequency?

Starter Quiz