A-Level UK (AQA, Edexcel, OCR) · Physics

Waves and optics

12 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 12 questions

  1. A sound wave of frequency 440 Hz has a wavelength of 0.78 m. What is the speed of sound in this medium?
  2. Two coherent sources produce destructive interference at a point. What must the path difference be?
  3. A diffraction grating has 600 lines per millimetre. Light of wavelength 550 nm is incident normally. At what angle is the first-order maximum?
  4. For the same grating (600 lines per mm) and 550 nm light, what is the highest order of maximum that can be observed?
  5. A string of length 0.60 m is fixed at both ends and carries waves at 240 m/s. What is the frequency of the fundamental?
  6. Light of wavelength 600 nm passes through double slits 0.50 mm apart onto a screen 2.0 m away. What is the fringe spacing?
  7. Light passes from air into glass of refractive index 1.50 at an angle of incidence of 40 degrees. What is the angle of refraction?
  8. What is the critical angle for a glass-air boundary where the glass has a refractive index of 1.50?
  9. Why can sound waves in air not be polarised, while light waves can?
  10. Two waves meet with a path difference of a quarter of a wavelength. What is the phase difference?
  11. The amplitude of a wave is doubled. By what factor does its intensity change?
  12. Why does an optical fibre need a cladding with a lower refractive index than the core?

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