General properties of waves: past paper questions

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• Question 22May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Which equation gives the speed of a wave?

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• Question 26Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The table shows the speed and the wavelength for different sound waves in four different materials.

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• Question 28Oct/Nov 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Which waves are longitudinal?

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• Question 24Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows two waveforms. Which arrow shows the wavelength of a longitudinal wave?

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• Question 5Oct/Nov 2024, paper 21Structured9 marks

  Ultrasound is a longitudinal wave which cannot be heard by humans as the frequency of ultrasound is too high. Ultrasound waves cannot travel in a vacuum. Explain why.

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• Question 21May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  The frequency of a wave is $0.60\text{ MHz}$ and the wavelength of the wave is $0.50\text{ km}$. What is the speed of this wave?

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• Question 22May/June 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Which quantity is defined as the number of wavelengths passing a point per second?

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2023, paper 21Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  Red light of frequency $4.7\times {10}^{14}\text{ Hz}$ travels in air at a speed of $3.0\times {10}^8\text{ m/s}$. Calculate the wavelength in air of this red light.

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• Question 22May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which list consists only of transverse waves?

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• Question 18May/June 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  The graph shows, at one instant, the pressure variation along a sound wave. Which point on the diagram represents a rarefaction and what is the wavelength of the sound wave?

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• Question 5Oct/Nov 2023, paper 21Structured6 marks

  Most of the energy emitted by the Sun is in three regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The name of one of these three regions is the ultraviolet region.

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• Question 23May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows the refraction of water waves as they cross a boundary in a ripple tank. What causes this refraction?

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• Question 1Oct/Nov 2023, paper 41Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  A student determines the speed of a wavefront on the surface of water. The student fills a plate with water and uses a dropping pipette to let one drop of water fall into the centre of the plate as shown in Fig. 1.1.

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• Question 4May/June 2026, paper 21Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  All electromagnetic waves transfer energy. State two other properties that are the same for all electromagnetic waves.

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• Question 7May/June 2023, paper 21Structured7 marksHas a diagram

  A water wave in a ripple tank diffracts as it passes through the gap in a barrier. Fig. 7.1 shows a drawing made by a student of the crests in the pattern. State one way in which the student’s drawing of the crests is wrong.

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• Question 5May/June 2026, paper 21Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  Figure 5.1 shows a ripple tank used by a student. Describe how the student uses the apparatus to create a wave.

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• Question 4May/June 2025, paper 22Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  A sound wave from a vibrating tuning fork is displayed on the oscilloscope shown in Fig. 4.1. The sound wave is detected using a microphone. Describe the motion of the air particles as the sound wave passes from the tuning fork to the microphone.

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• Question 5May/June 2023, paper 22Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  Water waves are transverse waves. Underline two other examples of transverse waves. seismic P-waves seismic S-waves sound X-rays

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