20 Practice Questions for Year 11 Physics Module 3: Waves and Thermodynamics

Question 6

Define resonance and provide an example to help explain your answer.

 

Conduct an investigation to explore resonance in mechanical systems and the relationships between:

• driving frequency
• natural frequency of the oscillating system
• amplitude of motion
• transfer/transformation of energy within the system

(ACSPH073)

Sound Waves

Question 7

How would classical musicians use beats to tune their instruments?

 

Analyse qualitatively and quantitatively the relationships of the wave nature of sound to explain:

• beats
• the Doppler effect

Question 8

A bystander notices that when stationary, the frequency of a police siren is 1800Hz. What would the frequency of the siren be if a bystander approaches the police car at 2ms-1, and the police car approaches the bystander at 20ms-1?

 

Analyse qualitatively and quantitatively the relationships of the wave nature of sound to explain:

• beats
• the Doppler effect

Question 9

Explain which wave properties will create beats.

 

Analyse qualitatively and quantitatively the relationships of the wave nature of sound to explain:

• beats
• the Doppler effect

Question 10

A person is standing between two cliffs. He is 800m from the nearest cliff and yells. If the velocity of sound in air is 340 ms-1, and he hears the second echo from the cliff behind him 5.0s after he hears the first echo. What is the distance between the two cliffs?

 

Conduct investigations to analyse the reflection, diffraction, resonance and superposition of sound waves (ACSPH071)

Question 11

What is the relationship between the harmonic of a standing wave in a string and the frequency of the standing wave?

 

Investigate and model the behaviour of standing waves on strings and/or in pipes to relate quantitatively the fundamental and harmonic frequencies of the waves that are produced to the physical characteristics (eg length, mass, tension, wave velocity) of the medium (ACSPH072)

Question 12

Two people are whispering to each other, although they are whispering at the same volume, one has a much higher pitch than the other. Someone else stands just outside and was able to hear one person talk, who was this person? Justify your answer.

 

Conduct a practical investigation to relate the pitch and loudness of a sound to its wave characteristics

Ray Model of Light

Question 13

Explain differences in image formed by a concave and convex lens. Use diagrams to strengthen your answer.

 

Conduct a practical investigation to analyse the formation of images in mirrors and lenses via reflection and refraction using the ray model of light (ACSPH075)

Question 14

Create an expression for the critical angle of a substance and the relative refractive index of the boundary involved in the interaction using Snell’s law.

 

Solve problems or make quantitative predictions in a variety of situations by applying the following relationships to:

• for the refractive index of medium ?, Snell’s Law

Question 15

What is total internal reflection?

 

Predict quantitatively, using Snell’s Law, the refraction and total internal reflection of light in a variety of situations

Question 16

How does the inverse square law for electromagnetic radiation complicate our ability to study our Universe?

 

Conduct an investigation to demonstrate the relationship between inverse square law, the intensity of light and the transfer of energy (ACSPH077)

Thermodynamics

Question 17

Find the final temperature and total heat transfer if 200g of ice is placed in a room with a temperature of 25ºC. The specific heat capacity of water is 4184 Jkg-1K-1 and the latent heat of fusion is 334000 Jkg-1.

 

Apply the following relationships to solve problems and make quantitative predictions in a variety of situations:

• ?=??Δ? where c is the specific heat capacity of a substance

Question 18

Two metal squares of the same material have a surface area of 3m2 and 6m2. The two squares are heated evenly in the same environment and have the same thickness. Predict the rate at which each square loses energy as it becomes cooler. Justify your answer.

 

Apply the following relationships to solve problems and make quantitative predictions in a variety of situations:

• ?=??Δ? where c is the specific heat capacity of a substance

Question 19

A house has 200 m2 worth of windows that are 2.5 mm thick. The glass has a thermal conduction constant of 0.75 Wm-1K-1. If the outside temperature is -5ºC and the internal temperature is 27ºC, how much energy is transferred via the windows per hour?

 

Apply the following relationships to solve problems and make quantitative predictions in a variety of situations:

• ?=??Δ? where c is the specific heat capacity of a substance

Question 20

What is the relationship between the latent heat and water going through the different states? Explain your reasoning.

 

Conduct an investigation to analyse qualitatively and quantitatively the latent heat involved in a change of state