4.4.1 Wave motion |
(a) progressive waves;
longitudinal and transverse waves |
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| (b) (i) displacement, amplitude, wavelength, period, phase difference, frequency and speed of a wave |
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(b) (ii) techniques and procedures used to use an oscilloscope to determine frequency |
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(c) the equation |
f = 1/T |
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(d) the wave equation |
v = fλ |
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| (e) graphical representations of transverse and longitudinal waves |
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| (f) (i) reflection, refraction, polarisation and diffraction of all waves |
Learners will be expected to know that diffraction effects become significant when the wavelength is comparable to the gap width. |
| (f) (ii) techniques and procedures used to demonstrate wave effects using a ripple tank |
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| (f) (iii) techniques and procedures used to observe polarising effects using microwaves and light |
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| (g) intensity of a progressive wave |
I = P/A
intensity ∝ (amplitude)2 |
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4.4.2 Electromagnetic waves
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(a) electromagnetic spectrum; properties of electromagnetic waves |
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(b) orders of magnitude of wavelengths of the principal radiations from radio waves to gamma rays |
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(c) plane polarised waves; polarisation of electromagnetic waves. |
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Learners will be expected to know about polarising filters for light and metal grilles for microwaves in demonstrating polarisation. |
(d) (i) refraction of light; refractive index;
n sin θ = constant (at a boundary where θ is the angle to the normal) |
n = c/v
where
c = critical angle
n = refractive index
v = wavespeed |
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(d) (ii) techniques and procedures used to investigate refraction and total internal reflection of light using ray boxes, including transparent rectangular and semi-circular blocks |
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(e) critical angle; total internal reflection for light. |
sin C = 1/n |
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4.4.3 Superposition |
(a) (i) the principle of superposition of waves
(ii) techniques and procedures used for superposition experiments using sound, light and microwaves |
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(b) graphical methods to illustrate the principle of superposition |
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(c) interference, coherence, path difference and phase difference |
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(d) constructive interference and destructive interference in terms of path difference and phase difference |
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(e) two-source interference with sound and microwaves |
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(f) Young double-slit experiment using visible light
Internet research on the ideas of Newton and Huygens about the nature of light. |
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Learners should understand that this experiment gave a classical confirmation of the wave-nature of light. |
(g) (i) λ = ax/d for all waves where a << D
(ii) techniques and procedures used to determine the wavelength of light using
(1) a double-slit, and
(2) a diffraction grating. |
λ = ax/d
d sinθ = nλ
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4.4.4 Stationary waves |
(a) stationary (standing) waves using microwaves, stretched strings and air columns |
(b) graphical representations of a stationary wave |
(c) similarities and the differences between stationary and progressive waves |
| (d) nodes and antinodes |
(e) (i) stationary wave patterns for a stretched string and air columns in closed and open tubes |
(ii) techniques and procedures used to determine the speed of sound in air by formation of stationary waves in a resonance tube |
(f) the idea that the separation between adjacent nodes (or antinodes) is equal to λ/2, where λ is the wavelength of the progressive wave |
| (g) fundamental mode of vibration (1st harmonic); harmonics. |
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