Waves Speed.pdf - Wave Basics Ryan124 Name: Wave Speed Read...

Wave Basics Name:
© The Physics Classroom, 2009 Page 1
Wave Speed
Read from Lesson 2 of the Waves chapter at The Physics Classroom:
MOP Connection: Waves: sublevels 3 and 4
1. A physics teacher attaches a slinky to the wall and begins introducing pulses with different
amplitude. Which of the two pulses below will take the least amount of time to reach the wall?
Justify your answer:
2. The physics teacher then begins introducing pulses with a different wavelength. Which of the two
pulses below will take the least amount of time to reach the wall?
Justify your answer:
3. Stan and Anna are conducting a slinky experiment. They are studying the possible effect of several
variables upon the speed of a wave in a slinky. Their data table is shown below. Fill in the blanks in
the table, analyze the data, and answer the following questions.
Medium Wavelength Frequency Speed
Zinc, 1-in. dia. coils 1.75 m 2.0 Hz
Zinc, 1-in. dia. coils 0.90 m 3.9 Hz
Copper, 1-in. dia. coils 1.19 m 2.1 Hz
Copper, 1-in. dia. coils 0.60 m 4.2 Hz
Zinc, 3-in. dia. coils 1.82 m 2.2 Hz
Zinc, 3-in. dia. coils 0.95 m 4.2 Hz
Ryan