NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL

S.6 PHYSICS MID OF TERM I– 2019

NAME: ________________________________________________COMB________

Instructions:
 Attempt all questions
 Time allowed is 2 Hours : 30 Minutes
SECTION A
Choose from the following words to fill in the blanks:
Velocity, rigid, frequency, travelling, elastic, ultrasound, infrasound, elephants, amplitude, period
higher, Doppler, velocities, standing, medium, decreases, frequencies, longitudinal, transverse,
water, vibrations
Sound
Sound waves are ……………………………….. waves. They require a ………………………….. to
propagate through, and the ………………………….. at which they propagate depends on the
………………………….. and inertial properties of the medium. Sound travels faster in
more………………………….. mediums such as ………………………….. and rock than it does in air.

A sound wave can be characterized by its pitch, which depends on the wave’s
………………………….., and its volume, which depends on the ………………………….. of the wave.

When a guitar string is plucked or a violin string is bowed, ………………………….. waves on

the string reflect from the fixed ends and set up standing waves. These………………………….. of the
string cause the air to vibrate, which is transmitted to our ears as sound waves. Travelling sound
waves can also produce ………………………….. waves in air columns, this is how woodwind
instruments work.

Humans can hear frequencies in the range 20 Hz – 20 kHz, although this range usually
……………………………… with age. Sound waves with frequencies above 20 kHz are called
………………………….. , and are used for medical imaging. Many animals also hear and use ultrasound.
Sound waves with frequencies below 20Hz are called …………………………... While we can’t hear
infrasound, it can cause headaches. Earthquakes produce waves of infrasound,
and………………………….. use infrasound to communicate over long distances.
When a police car with its sirens blaring overtakes you on the road, you hear a range of
…………………………... When it is coming towards you it sounds …………………………..in pitch than it does
after it has overtaken you. This is called the ………………………….. effect. This effect is used to measure
………………………….. of moving objects, for example a police radar detector uses the Doppler Effect
to tell if you are speeding, and bats use it to catch insects.

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 SECTION B (Circle the best alternative)

1. A piano wire has a length of 81 cm and a mass of 2.0 g. If its fundamental frequency is to be
394 Hz, its tension must be:
a. 0.32N
b. 63N
c. 130N
d. 250N

2. Two men talk on the moon. Assuming that the thin layer of gases on the moon is negligible, which
of the following is the right answer:
a. They hear each other with lower frequency
b. They hear each other with higher frequency
c. They can hear each other at such frequency
d. They cannot hear each other at all

3. Do you expect an echo to return to you more quickly on a hot day or a cold day?
a. Hot day.
b. Cold day.
c. Same on both days.

4. A sound wave is different than a light wave in that a sound wave is:
a. Produced by an oscillating object and a light wave is not.
b. Not capable of traveling through a vacuum.
c. Not capable of diffracting and a light wave is.
d. Capable of existing with a variety of frequencies and a light wave has a single frequency.

5. When a sound wave passes from air into water, what properties of the wave will change?
a. Frequency.
b. Wave speed.
c. Both frequency and wavelength.
d. Wavelength.
e. Both wave speed and wavelength.

6. In which of the following is the wavelength of the lowest vibration mode the same as the length
of the string or tube?
a. A string.
b. A tube closed at one end.
c. All of the above.
d. An open tube.
e. None of the above.

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7. If the statement is true, write true. If it is false, change the underlined word or words to make the
statement true.
a. Intensity is mass per unit volume.
b. Loudness is how the ear perceives frequency
c. Music is a set of notes that are pleasing

8. consequence of Einstein’s theory of relativity is:

a. moving clocks run faster than when they are at rest.
b. moving rods are shorter than when they are at rest.
c. light has both wave and particle properties.
d. the laws of physics must appear the same to all observers moving with uniform velocity
relative to each other

11. The series limit for the Balmer series represents a transition m → n, where (m, n) is
a. (2, 1)
b. (3, 2)
c. (∞, 1)
d. (∞, 2)

12. “Beats” in sound refer to:

a. interference of two waves of the same frequency.
b. combination of two waves of slightly different frequency.
c. reversal of phase of reflected wave relative to incident wave.
d. two media having slightly different sound velocities.

13. Two notes are an “octave” apart. The ratio of their frequencies is:
a. 2
b. 4
c. 6
d. 8

14. To raise the pitch of a certain piano string, the piano tuner:
a. loosens the string
b. tightens the string
c. shortens the string
d. lengthens the string

15. If the speed of sound is 340m/s, the two lowest frequencies of an 0.5-m organ pipe, closed at
one end, are approximately:
a. 170 and 340 Hz
b. 170 and 510 Hz
c. 340 and 680 Hz
d. 340 and 1020 Hz

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 SECTION C
16. An organ pipe is closed at one end and produces a fundamental note of frequency 128 Hz.
(a) Calculate
(i) the frequencies of the next two harmonics in the harmonic series of the pipe.
(ii) the frequencies of the corresponding harmonics for an open pipe whose
fundamental is 128 Hz
(iii) the ratio of the length of the closed pipe to that of the open pipe.

(b) Suggest why organ pipes that emit notes at the lower end of the organ’s frequency
range are usually open pipes.

17. Judy is standing on the platform of a station. A high speed train is approaching the station in a
straight line at constant speed and is sounding its whistle. As the train passes by Judy, the
frequency of the sound emitted by the whistle as heard by Judy, changes from 640 Hz to 430 Hz.
a. What is Doppler Effect?
b. Determine
i) the speed of the train
ii) the frequency of the sound emitted by the whistle as heard by a person on the train.
(Speed of sound = 330 m/s)

18. Two identical piano strings of length 0.750 m are each tuned exactly to 440 Hz. The tension in
one of the strings is then increased by 1.0%. If they are now struck, what is the beat frequency
between the fundamentals of the two strings?
19. A bat emits short pulses of high-frequency sound and detects the echoes.
a. In what way would the echoes from large and small insects compare if they were the same
distance from the bat?
b. In what way would the echo from an insect flying toward the bat differ from that of an insect
flying away from the bat?

20. A point source emits sound waves with an average power output of 80.0 W.
a. Find the intensity 3.00 m from the source.
b. Find the distance at which the sound level is 40 dB

END

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