March 30th,2019

1. Considering a transverse wave, explain the following terms

a) Crest and trough
b) Amplitude
c) Frequency
d) Wavelength
e) Velocity of propagation

2. Explain the following terms (using diagrams where necessary)

a) Interference
b) Diffraction
c) Refraction

3. Calculate the frequency of

a) Red light of wavelength 650 nm
b) Violet light of wavelength 420 nm

4. What is the wavelength of X-rays of frequency 3 × 1018 Hz

5. What is the wavelength of sound of frequency 440 Hz

The speed of sound in air is about 340 m/s

6. a tube, closed at one end, is found to have a fundamental frequency of resonance, f = 200 Hz.
The length of the tube is 40 cm.
a) calculate the speed of sound in the tube.
b) What is the wavelength of the sound at resonance (frequency f)?
c) What are the frequencies of the next two harmonics of the same tube?
March 30th,2019
7. The diagram below shows a stationary wave on a wire under tension. The frequency of the oscillations is
1200 Hz.

If the length of the wire is 40 cm, calculate the speed of the waves moving along it.

8. Plane waves on the surface of a liquid are generated by an oscillator of time period 0.1 s and amplitude 2
mm. The speed of propagation of the waves is 20 cm/s.
a) Calculate the wavelength
b) At time t, point A (a point on the surface of the liquid near the oscillator) has displacement 2 mm
upwards.
At time t, what will be the displacement of the following points:
i) Point B, which is 7 cm away from point A (measured along the direction of propagation of
the waves)
ii) Point C, which is 10.5 cm away from point A (measured along the direction of propagation
of the waves)
iii) Point D, which is 10 cm away from point A (measured along the direction of propagation of
the waves)
c) Explain why your answers to parts b) i) and b) iii) above are approximate.

9. A sheet of glass of refractive index ng = 1.5 is in contact with water. Refractive index of water nw = 1.33.
a ray of light meets the air/glass interface at an angle of incidence, I = 40o, as shown below.
March 30th,2019
a) Calculate the angle of refraction, r2 in the water.
b) Calculate the critical angle of incidence for the glass/water interface.

10. Light is incident at one end of a transparent plastic rod as shown below. the refractive index of the
plastic is 1.4.

Find the maximum value of the angle of incidence i, which will result in total internal reflection at point
A.

11. A ray of light refracted through a prism. The angle of the prism, A = 70o. the angle of refraction in the
glass at the first face is 28o.

Calculate
a) The angle of incidence in the glass at the second face
b) The angle of incidence at the first face and the angle of refraction at the second face given that the
refractive index n = 1.4
c) The angle of deviation of the ray.
March 30th,2019
12. A ray of light is incident normally, at the midpoint of one face of a prism as shown below. The refractive
index of the prism material is n = 1.5 and the refracting angle is 50o.

a) Calculate the critical angle for the material of the prism.

b) Draw the diagram which shows the path of the ray through the prism.
c) Calculate the angle of refraction when the ray emerges from the prism.