AQA GCSE PHYSICS PAPER 2 ACTUAL TEST
QUESTIONS AND ACCURATE ANSWERS
COMPLETE REVIEW SHEET
●● Why does atmospheric pressure decrease with an increase in height?
Answer: - atmosphere is a thin layer of air around the earth
- atmosphere is usually most dense at the surface of the Earth, there is a
greater number of air molecules in a given volume
- atmosphere gets less dense as you increase with altitude
- pressure of atmosphere is caused by air molecules colliding with a
surface
- as surface increases height above ground level the number of air
molecules above the surface decreases
●● Example of transverse waves
Answer: - Ripples on the surface of water
- A wave on a string
●● Example of longitudinal waves
Answer: - Sound waves travelling in air
- Shock waves
,●● All waves transfer ?
Answer: All waves transfer
ENERGY
from one place to another
●● What do ripples transfer?
Answer: kinetic energy
●● What do sound waves transfer?
Answer: sound energy
●● Transverse wave ?
Answer: - wave where oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of
energy transfer
- not all transverse waves require a medium
●● Longitudinal waves ?
Answer: - wave where the oscillations are parallel to the direction of
energy transfer
- they all require a medium to travel in
- has compression (regions where the air particles are close together)
,- has rarefactions (regions where the air particles are spaced out)
●● For both ripples on a water surface and sound waves in air, what is it
that moves and stays in the same place?
Answer: - the wave travels
- the water / the air stays in the same place
●● Amplitude
Answer: - maximum displacement of a point on the wave from its
undisturbed position
●● Wavelength
Answer: - is the distance from point on one wave to the equivalent point
on the adjacent wave
- has the symbol lambda
●● How to measure wavelength on a longitudinal wave
Answer: compression to compression or rarefaction to rarefaction
●● Frequency of a wave
Answer: - number of complete waves passing a certain point each
second
- Measured in hertz
, - 1 Hz is 1 wave per second
●● Period
Answer: - time (s) for one wave to pass a point
period = 1 / frequency
●● Wave speed
Answer: - speed at which the wave moves through the medium
WAVE SPEED measured in m/s
●● How do you measure the speed of sound?
Answer: - have two people separated by a distance of 500 metres
- one person holds a pair of cymbals and the other holds a timer
- the person starts timing when they see the other person clash the
cymbals together
- the person stops timing when they hear the sound of the cymbals
clashing together
- calculate speed of sound waves by dividing the distance travelled by
the time taken
Problems :
QUESTIONS AND ACCURATE ANSWERS
COMPLETE REVIEW SHEET
●● Why does atmospheric pressure decrease with an increase in height?
Answer: - atmosphere is a thin layer of air around the earth
- atmosphere is usually most dense at the surface of the Earth, there is a
greater number of air molecules in a given volume
- atmosphere gets less dense as you increase with altitude
- pressure of atmosphere is caused by air molecules colliding with a
surface
- as surface increases height above ground level the number of air
molecules above the surface decreases
●● Example of transverse waves
Answer: - Ripples on the surface of water
- A wave on a string
●● Example of longitudinal waves
Answer: - Sound waves travelling in air
- Shock waves
,●● All waves transfer ?
Answer: All waves transfer
ENERGY
from one place to another
●● What do ripples transfer?
Answer: kinetic energy
●● What do sound waves transfer?
Answer: sound energy
●● Transverse wave ?
Answer: - wave where oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of
energy transfer
- not all transverse waves require a medium
●● Longitudinal waves ?
Answer: - wave where the oscillations are parallel to the direction of
energy transfer
- they all require a medium to travel in
- has compression (regions where the air particles are close together)
,- has rarefactions (regions where the air particles are spaced out)
●● For both ripples on a water surface and sound waves in air, what is it
that moves and stays in the same place?
Answer: - the wave travels
- the water / the air stays in the same place
●● Amplitude
Answer: - maximum displacement of a point on the wave from its
undisturbed position
●● Wavelength
Answer: - is the distance from point on one wave to the equivalent point
on the adjacent wave
- has the symbol lambda
●● How to measure wavelength on a longitudinal wave
Answer: compression to compression or rarefaction to rarefaction
●● Frequency of a wave
Answer: - number of complete waves passing a certain point each
second
- Measured in hertz
, - 1 Hz is 1 wave per second
●● Period
Answer: - time (s) for one wave to pass a point
period = 1 / frequency
●● Wave speed
Answer: - speed at which the wave moves through the medium
WAVE SPEED measured in m/s
●● How do you measure the speed of sound?
Answer: - have two people separated by a distance of 500 metres
- one person holds a pair of cymbals and the other holds a timer
- the person starts timing when they see the other person clash the
cymbals together
- the person stops timing when they hear the sound of the cymbals
clashing together
- calculate speed of sound waves by dividing the distance travelled by
the time taken
Problems :
