BRAINCAKE

Waves

OCR AS-level PhysicsTopic 8 of 915 lessons

Revision notes for Waves in OCR Physics A (H156). Every lesson in BrainCake comes with R.E.C.I.P.E. recall steps, a quick check and spaced reviews.

  1. Progressive WavesProgressive waves are oscillations that travel through matter or space.
  2. Wave PropertiesDisplacement is the distance from the equilibrium position in a particular direction.
  3. Phase DifferenceTwo different types of graph can be used to describe a wave.
  4. Reflection and RefractionA ripple tank can be used to study water waves.A wave can be represented as a series of wavefronts.A wavefront is a line joining points on a wave…
  5. DiffractionWhen waves travel through a gap or around an obstacle they spread out.
  6. PolarisationPolarised waves oscillate in one plane only.
  7. IntensityThe intensity of a progressive wave is the radiant power passing through a surface per unit area.where P is the power and A is the cross-sectional…
  8. Electromagnetic WavesElectromagnetic Spectrum Electromagnetic waves are transverse waves.
  9. Refractive IndexDifferent materials refract light by different amounts.
  10. Total Internal ReflectionWhen light travels from one medium to another a small amount of the light is reflected, and most is refracted.
  11. SuperpositionWhen two waves of the same type meet, they pass through each other.
  12. InterferenceFor a stable interference pattern to form,two superpositioning waves must be coherent.
  13. Young's Double Slit ExperimentYoung obtained a monochromatic source of light by passing light through a colour filter.
  14. Stationary WavesStationary waves form when two progressive waves of the same frequency travel in opposite directions and are superposed.
  15. HarmonicsTransverse stationary waves formed on stringed musical instruments can produce musical notes.

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