AQA Physics A-level

Topic 3: Waves
Key Points

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 Key Terms
Displacement: The distance and direction of a particle from the equilibrium
position.
Amplitude: Maximum displacement of a vibrating particle.
Wavelength: Shortest distance between two particles in phase.
Frequency: Number of wave cycles occurring each second.
Wave speed: Distance travelled by a wave each second.
Phase difference: Measured in degrees or radians, the amount by which one
wave lags behind another wave.
Path difference: Measured in metres, the difference in the lengths of two
waves.
Progressive: Waves whose oscillations travel and transfer energy.

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 Longitudinal and Transverse Waves
Transverse: Waves whose oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of propagation of energy e.g.
electromagnetic waves
Longitudinal: Waves whose oscillations are parallel to the direction of propagation of energy. They consist
of compressions and rarefactions e.g. sound waves

Only transverse waves can be polarised, which

means all the waves are oscillating in the same
plane. The discovery of polarised light helped prove
that light was a transverse wave.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co
mmons/thumb/9/9a/Polarisation.svg/800
px-Polarisation.svg.png

Radio Signals
Glare and Cameras
TV and radio signals are polarised by the direction
Polarisation can be used in things such as polaroid of the rods on the transmitting aerial. To receive
sunglasses to reduce glare or in a camera to these signals well, you must ensure the receiving
enhance the image. aerial and the waves are in the same plane.

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 Superposition and Interference
The point where waves meet is called superposition. The total displacement at a
point is equal to the sum of the individual displacements at that point. You should know
that waves:

● Constructively interfere where they are in phase with each other

● Destructively interfere where they are in antiphase with each other (180 degrees
out of phase).
This can be explained in terms of peaks and troughs. When the waves are in phase,
two peaks or two troughs will constructively interfere with each resulting in a ‘double’
peak or trough being created. When waves are in antiphase, a peak will meet a trough
and result in destructive interference, which is where they cancel each other out and
produce a minimum point.

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 Stationary Waves
A stationary wave is one that stores energy instead of transferring it from one point
to another. You need to know the process of a stationary wave being formed on a string
that is fixed at both ends:

1. A wave is generated at one end of the string and travels down it

2. At the other end , this wave is reflected and travels back in the opposite direction
3. The frequency of wave generation and the length of the string are such that the
next wave generated meets this reflected wave and undergoes superposition
4. At places where the two waves are in phase, they undergo constructive
interference and form a maximum point known as an antinode
5. At places where the two waves are in antiphase, they undergo destructive
interference and form a minimum point known as an node

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 Waves on a String
The fundamental frequency of a wave on a string can be found
from the following equation:

From the equation, we can tell that raising the tension or

shortening the length of a given string increases the pitch.
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 Double Slit Interference
Young's Double Slit Experiment
When two double slits are illuminated, the two slits act as coherent wave sources.
Coherence means the waves have the same frequency with a constant phase
difference. The light diffracts at the slits and the two waves superpose, forming an
interference pattern. This is because a combination of constructive and destructive
interference occurs.
Double Slit Formula
Evidence for the Wave Nature of EM
Radiation

Diffraction and interference are purely wave

properties, so this experiment showed that EM
radiation has wave properties.

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 Diffraction
Diffraction is the spreading out of waves when they pass through a gap or over an edge.
Diffraction depends on the gap width and the wavelength of the wave. If the gap is:
● A lot bigger than the wavelength, the diffraction is unnoticeable
● A bit wider than the wavelength, the diffraction is noticeable
● The same size as the wavelength, the diffraction is most noticeable
● Smaller than the wavelength, most of the waves are reflected

One consequence of diffraction is observed when light is shone through a diffraction grating:
● Monochromatic light will display a diffraction pattern.
● White light creates a spectra of colours.
Intensity is a measure of the power delivered per unit area.
Increasing the slit width creates a intense but narrow central maximum.
Decreasing the slit width creates a wider and less intense central maximum.

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 Refraction
Refraction is when a wave changes speed when it crosses into a new medium:
● If the medium is more optically dense, the wave will slow down and bend towards the
normal
θᵢ > θᵣ
● If the medium is less optically dense, the wave will speed up and bend away from the
normal
θᵢ < θᵣ
A measure of how optically dense a medium is, is the material’s refractive index:

The absolute refractive The relative refractive index

index of a material measures n = c at the boundary between two c₁
₁n₂ = c₂
c₁
how much it slows down materials is a ratio of the speed
light. It is a ratio. of light in the two materials.

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 Snell’s Law
It is possible to calculate the refractive index from the angles of incidence and refraction,
or to predict the angles of refraction for a given angle of incidence, using Snell’s law.
Snell’s law states that:
n₁ sin 𝛳₁ = n₂ sin 𝛳₂

This can then be used to form the equation used to calculate the critical angle for a given
material. The critical angle is the angle for which the refracted ray just passes along the
boundary line and beyond which all of the wave will be reflected.

n₁ sin 𝛳₁ = n₂ sin 𝛳₂
n₁ sin 𝛳₁ = n₂ sin 90 n₂
sin 𝛳₁ = n₁
n₁ sin 𝛳₁ = n₂ x 1

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 Total Internal Reflection
Light entering a less dense material refracts away from the normal. The greater the angle of incidence, the
greater the angle of refraction. Eventually it will increase to such an angle that it refracts along the boundary,
called the critical angle. At this point the angle of refraction is 90°.

However if the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, then it is reflected back inside.

For TIR to occur:

The light must travel from a more optically dense to a less optically dense medium.
The angle of incidence of the light ray must exceed the critical angle of the interface.

Derivation of the Critical Angle:

n₁ sin 𝛳₁ = n₂ sin 𝛳₂
n₂
n₁ sin 𝛳₁ = n₂ sin 90 sin 𝛳₁ = n₁
n₁ sin 𝛳₁ = n₂ x 1

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 Optical Fibres
Optical fibres make use of total internal reflection to transfer signals. They are used for
several purposes including:
● High-speed internet cables
● Medical imaging as endoscopes
● Engineering inspections to view hard to reach areas
The type of optical fibre you need to know about are step-index optical fibres. These
consist of two main parts:
1. A core made of a high-refractive index material
2. Cladding made of a low-refractive index material
The difference in refractive indexes is due to the fact that TIR can only occur when a wave
passes from a high-refractive index into a lower one.

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 Cladding
The cladding of an optical fibre serves a number of purposes that you must be aware of:
● It provides tensile strength to the optical fibre so that it doesn’t break when twisted
● It prevents information from transferring between different cores in a bundle
● Prevents the core from being damaged, for example by getting scratched

There are two main reasons that you should know as to why the core must be protected from
scratches:
1. Water can get into the scratch, which will increase the refractive index to a level that may
be higher than the core, and therefore prevent TIR from occurring - instead the signal will
exit the core
2. The scratch may alter the angle at which the signal interacts with the core’s boundary
such that the angle is lowered below the critical angle - this once again will prevent TIR
occuring and cause signal loss outside of the fibre
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 Absorption
Signal transfer through optical fibre is susceptible to two pulse changing phenomenon, the
first being absorption.
Absorption is where energy is lost as the signal is transferred. It results in a loss of
amplitude for the signal, but doesn’t affect the frequency.

The effects of absorption can be reduced by using an optical fibre repeater to boost the
signal at periodic positions along the fibre.

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 Dispersion
The second pulse changing phenomenon that can occur in optical fibre signal transfer is
dispersion. Dispersion comes in two main types:
1. Modal dispersion is a consequence of the beams entering the fibre at different angles,
which results in each beam undergoing TIR a different number of times and so means
that each beam reaches the end at a slightly different time. This results in pulse
broadening.

2. Material dispersion is a consequence of the signal containing several different

wavelengths, each of which travels at slightly different speeds in the core. This again results
in pulse broadening.

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