Year 11 students, check the dates!
Wave behaviour is common in both natural and man-made systems. Waves carry energy from one place to another and can also carry information. Designing comfortable and safe structures such as bridges, houses and music performance halls requires an understanding of mechanical waves. Modern technologies such as imaging and communication systems show how we can make the most of electromagnetic waves.Â
You should be able to:
State that waves can transfer energy and information without the transfer of matter.
Identify waves as either transverse or longitudinal and either mechanical or electromagnetic.
Calculate the period of a wave from its frequency.
Calculate the wave speed from the frequency and wavelength.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Describe refraction at a boundary in terms of wavefronts.
Describe refraction including the reflected rays.
Explain partial absorption as a decrease in the amplitude of a wave and therefore the energy carried.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Describe the properties of a sound in terms of amplitude and frequency.
Identify the range of frequencies that humans can hear.
Compare ultrasound and audible sound waves in terms of frequency.
Outline some uses of ultrasound in distance measurement.
Describe the operation of an ultrasound transducer in terms of partial reflection.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Describe the internal structure of the Earth.
Compare the three types of seismic waves (P, S, L) in terms of the speed they travel and whether they are transverse or longitudinal.
Describe the operation of a seismometer.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Identify the position of EM waves in the spectrum in order of wavelength and frequency.
Describe the relationship between the energy being transferred by an electromagnetic wave and the frequency of the wave.
Calculate the frequency and the wavelength of an electromagnetic wave.
Explain why the range of wavelengths that can be detected by the human eye is limited.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Describe how a range of electromagnetic waves are used in a variety of scenarios.
Explain why a particular wave is suited to its application (e.g. microwaves are absorbed by water and fats and so are useful for heating food in microwave ovens).
State that the higher the frequency of a wave, the greater the rate of data transfer possible.
Describe the sub-regions of the radio spectrum.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Describe the penetrating powers of gamma rays, X-rays, and ultraviolet rays.
Compare X-rays and gamma radiation in terms of their origin.
Describe the ionisation of atoms in simple terms.
Describe the formation of an X-ray photograph in terms of absorption or transmission.
State that X-ray therapy can be used to kill cancerous cells in the body.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Construct accurate ray diagrams showing the reflection of light rays.
Explain why some surfaces form images during reflection but others do not.
Investigate the law of reflection through practical techniques.
Describe the dispersion of white light as it passes through a prism.
Investigate the refraction of light through a glass or Perspex block.
Study resources
You should be able to:
State whether a lens in converging or diverging based on a simple ray diagram.
Identify convex (converging) and concave (diverging) lenses from their shapes.
Identify real and virtual images by using ray diagrams.
Calculate the magnification of a lens based on object and image size.
Study resources
You should be able to:
Describe the visible spectrum as a continuous series of colours or wavelengths.
Explain the colour of objects in white light in terms of reflection of parts of the spectrum.
Describe how combinations of filters transmit light.
Explain the apparent colour of surfaces using the concept of reflection and absorption when illuminated by white light or combinations of primary colours.
Study resources