Observing Waves

Although human vision relies on visible light, we can’t actually see light itself. Physicists have therefore modelled the behaviour of light using waves that can be seen, especially water waves. In the lab, we would be able to observe this using a ripple tank but you can currently experience this experiment from home using resources that have been made public to support remote teaching during the current lock-down.

An index of appropriate resources from Cambridge Assessment is available on this page… https://learning.cambridgeinternational.org/classroom/course/view.php?id=3459

To start the Observing Waves work, begin by watching the main video on this page… https://learning.cambridgeinternational.org/classroom/course/view.php?id=3452.

While watching the video, you should write bullet-points to summarise the most important facts. You will need to pause the video as you make notes because there is a lot of information in the video, which includes both basic definitions that you should already know and demonstrations that illustrate the various points covered.

Next, click on the link for the Virtual Experiment. This uses the same video but with pause points that are signalled by an alert in the top left corner of the video and blue dots on the playback track at the bottom of the screen. The alerts refer to questions that you must answer as you work your way through the video. You should click on the alerts when they appear to get more details and to pause the playback. To access the worksheet needed for the virtual experiment: click here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The first task on the worksheet (“Draw a diagram of the spring when a longitudinal wave is travelling through it”) is not numbered. This means that all the tasks on the worksheet have numbers that are one less than the number stated in the video. So if the video asks you to complete questions 1 and 2, the questions concerned are actually the first one (without a number) and Q1. Similarly, when you get to the end and reach Q11 (according to the video) you will actually need to answer Q10 on the worksheet.

When you have completed this work, email it to Mr Tarrant for feedback.