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Waves and Sound: Practice Questions with Answers

Curriculum: Waves And SoundGrades: 8–10Questions: 12Mode: Practice

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1. What is a wave?

  1. A disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another
  2. A type of chemical reaction
  3. A solid object that moves through space
  4. A force that only works underwater
Show the answer
Answer: A. A disturbance that transfers energy from one place to another
A wave carries energy from one location to another without the matter itself traveling all the way with it.

2. In a transverse wave, how do the particles of the medium move compared to the direction the wave travels?

  1. Particles do not move at all
  2. Particles move perpendicular to the wave direction
  3. Particles move in random directions
  4. Particles move parallel to the wave direction
Show the answer
Answer: B. Particles move perpendicular to the wave direction
In a transverse wave, particles vibrate up and down (or side to side) at right angles to the direction the wave energy travels, like a wave on a rope.

3. In a longitudinal wave, how do the particles of the medium move?

  1. Perpendicular to the direction of the wave, creating crests and troughs
  2. In a circle around a fixed point, as in water waves at the surface
  3. Parallel to the direction the wave travels, creating compressions and rarefactions
  4. They stay still while only energy moves forward through the medium
Show the answer
Answer: C. Parallel to the direction the wave travels, creating compressions and rarefactions
Longitudinal waves, like sound, move particles back and forth in the same direction the wave travels, squeezing them together (compressions) and spreading them apart (rarefactions).

4. Sound is best classified as what type of wave?

  1. A longitudinal wave
  2. An electromagnetic wave
  3. A standing light wave
  4. A transverse wave
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Answer: A. A longitudinal wave
Sound is a longitudinal wave because air particles vibrate back and forth in the same direction the sound travels, creating compressions and rarefactions.

5. What is the amplitude of a wave?

  1. The maximum distance particles move from their resting (equilibrium) position
  2. The time it takes to complete one wave cycle
  3. The number of waves passing a point each second
  4. The distance between two consecutive crests
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Answer: A. The maximum distance particles move from their resting (equilibrium) position
Amplitude measures how far the medium's particles move from their normal resting position; larger amplitude means more energy and, for sound, a louder noise.

6. What is wavelength?

  1. The loudness of a sound wave, measured by how much energy it carries to the listener's ear
  2. The height of a wave above its resting position, measured from the middle line up to the crest
  3. The distance between two consecutive corresponding points on a wave, such as crest to crest
  4. The speed at which a wave moves, measured by how far one crest travels in each second of time
Show the answer
Answer: C. The distance between two consecutive corresponding points on a wave, such as crest to crest
Wavelength is the distance from one point on a wave to the exact same point on the next cycle, such as from one crest to the next crest.

7. What is frequency measured in?

  1. Decibels
  2. Hertz (Hz)
  3. Meters
  4. Seconds
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Answer: B. Hertz (Hz)
Frequency is the number of complete wave cycles that pass a point each second, and its unit is the hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz equals 1 cycle per second.

8. What happens to the pitch of a sound when its frequency increases?

  1. The pitch gets lower
  2. The pitch stays exactly the same
  3. The sound becomes silent
  4. The pitch gets higher
Show the answer
Answer: D. The pitch gets higher
Pitch and frequency are directly related: a higher frequency (more vibrations per second) is heard by our ears as a higher pitch sound.

9. What does the loudness of a sound mainly depend on?

  1. The temperature of the room only
  2. The color of the sound source
  3. The amplitude of the sound wave
  4. The wavelength of the sound wave
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Answer: C. The amplitude of the sound wave
Loudness depends on amplitude: a sound wave with larger amplitude carries more energy and is heard as louder.

10. Sound waves need a medium (like air, water, or a solid) to travel through. Why can sound not travel through empty space (a vacuum)?

  1. Because sound actually travels faster in a vacuum, so it passes by too quickly for us to hear
  2. Because the extreme cold of empty space freezes sound waves before they can travel very far
  3. Because light waves from the Sun fill space and block the sound waves from getting through
  4. Because there are no particles in a vacuum to vibrate and pass the sound energy along
Show the answer
Answer: D. Because there are no particles in a vacuum to vibrate and pass the sound energy along
Sound is a mechanical wave that relies on particles bumping into their neighbors to pass energy along, so with no particles present in a vacuum, sound has nothing to travel through.

11. What is an echo?

  1. A reflected sound wave that is heard after bouncing off a surface
  2. A sound wave that keeps speeding up as it travels farther from its source
  3. A sound wave that turns into light after hitting a hard wall
  4. The very first and loudest sound that a source gives off
Show the answer
Answer: A. A reflected sound wave that is heard after bouncing off a surface
An echo occurs when a sound wave reflects off a hard surface, like a canyon wall or a large building, and returns to the listener's ears after the original sound.

12. What is the approximate range of frequencies that most healthy young humans can hear?

  1. About 1,000,000 Hz to 2,000,000 Hz
  2. About 0 Hz to 5 Hz
  3. About 1 Hz to 10 Hz
  4. About 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
Show the answer
Answer: D. About 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz
Human hearing typically ranges from about 20 Hz (very low pitch) to about 20,000 Hz (very high pitch), though this range often narrows with age.
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