Transverse, longitudinal and sound waves

Grade 8 Science Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   A wave moves right along Bo's rope. Think about one red ribbon tied to the rope. How does the ribbon move?

   • Up and down, staying in place
   • In a circle around the rope
   • To the right, riding along with the wave
   • Back and forth, left and right
2. 2.

   Esme's book describes a wave whose particles move at right angles to the wave's direction. Which wave is it?

   • A wave that carries particles along
   • A sound wave in air
   • A longitudinal wave
   • A transverse wave
3. 3.

   Jun reads the spring drawing on its ruler. What is the wave's wavelength?

   • 20 cm
   • 40 cm
   • 80 cm
   • 10 cm

4. Read this first

   Spring wave diagram (example data)

   a spring lying along a ruler marked 0 to 90 cm. Compressions (bunched coils) at 15, 45, 75 cm. Rarefactions (spread-out coils) at 30, 60 cm.

5. 4.

   Kira draws a slower push on the spring, so the compressions are farther apart. What is the wavelength?

   • 60 cm
   • 90 cm
   • 30 cm
   • 15 cm
6. 5.

   Luz measures a very long spring stretched across the gym floor. What is the wavelength?

   • 1.6 m
   • 0.8 m
   • 0.4 m
   • 2.4 m

7. Table (OpenStax data)

   Material, speed of sound (m/s). Air at 20 °C, about 343; fresh water, about 1,480; steel, about 5,900 to 6,000.

8. 6.

   Milo studies the speed of sound table. In which material does sound travel fastest?

   • Steel
   • Each one, since sound has one speed
   • Fresh water
   • Air, since it is the easiest to move through
9. 7.

   A whale's call travels through water. Using the table, about how many times faster is sound in water than in air, Noah?

   • About the same speed
   • About 4 times faster
   • Slower in water than in air
   • About 40 times faster
10. 8.

    Pia wonders why sound moves faster in water than in air. Which reason fits the science?

    • It doesn't: sound is faster in air
    • Sound turns into light in water
    • Water is much harder to squeeze than air
    • Water carries the sound along as a current
11. 9.

    Ren looks at the night sky. Which wave can cross the empty space between a far star and Earth?

    • A ripple on a pond
    • The star's light
    • A wave along a rope
    • Sound from the star
12. 10.

    Tala reads that sound and water waves are mechanical waves. What do mechanical waves need?

    • A battery
    • Matter to travel through, called a medium
    • Empty space with nothing in it
    • Light to carry them