Exam practice
Exam questions
Write your answer. Then open the mark scheme and tick each point you made.
- Question 1 of 102 marks
A leaf floats on a pond. A water wave passes under it. Describe what happens to the leaf, and state what the wave carries across the pond.
Mark scheme
- The leaf moves up and down (accept: it bobs, or it is not carried along by the wave)
- The wave carries energy (accept: energy, not matter)
- Question 2 of 101 mark
State what is needed to make a sound.
Mark scheme
- A vibration (accept: something vibrating)
- Question 3 of 102 marks
Describe how the particles of the air move when a sound wave passes through it.
Mark scheme
- They vibrate (accept: they move back and forth)
- Along the same line as the wave travels (accept: it is a longitudinal wave)
- Question 4 of 102 marks
Explain why sound cannot travel through a vacuum.
Mark scheme
- Sound is passed on by particles (accept: sound needs a medium, or a substance, to travel through)
- A vacuum has no particles in it
- Question 5 of 102 marks
Sound travels through air, water and steel. Write them in order, from the one sound travels through most slowly to the one it travels through fastest. Give a reason why sound is fastest in a solid.
Mark scheme
- Air, water, steel
- The particles in a solid are closest together (accept: most strongly held together), so they pass the vibration on most quickly
- Question 6 of 104 marks
Three sounds, A, B and C, are shown on an oscilloscope with the same settings.Which sound is the loudest, and which has the highest pitch? Give a reason for each.
Mark scheme
- B is the loudest
- It has the biggest amplitude (accept: its wave is the tallest)
- C has the highest pitch
- It has the highest frequency (accept: the most waves on the screen, or its peaks are closest together)
- Question 7 of 103 marks
A girl claps her hands in front of a cliff. She hears the echo 2 s later. The speed of sound in air is 330 m/s. Calculate how far away the cliff is.
Mark scheme
- Distance the sound travels = 330 × 2 = 660 m
- The sound goes to the cliff and back, so divide by 2
- The cliff is 330 m away
- Question 8 of 102 marks
A room with bare walls and a hard floor echoes. Explain why a carpet and curtains make it quieter.
Mark scheme
- Soft materials absorb sound (accept: the energy of the sound is transferred to them)
- So less sound is reflected (accept: hard surfaces reflect more of the sound than soft ones do)
- Question 9 of 102 marks
Describe what the ear drum does when a sound wave reaches it, and what happens next so that you hear the sound.
Mark scheme
- The ear drum vibrates
- The vibrations are passed on to the inner ear (accept: to the small bones, or to the cochlea), which sends electrical signals to the brain
- Question 10 of 102 marks
State what ultrasound is, and give one use of it.
Mark scheme
- Sound with a frequency too high for humans to hear (accept: sound above 20 000 Hz)
- Any one use: scanning an unborn baby, finding the depth of the sea (sonar), cleaning jewellery or glasses, or physiotherapy