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8th grade When waves are reflected, absorbed or passed through worksheet

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When waves are reflected, absorbed or passed through

Grade 8 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

NameDate

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.

  1. Read this first

    Depth finder echoes on a fishing boat (example data)

    echo fromtime after the pulse (s)
    Fish school0.05
    Lake bottom0.15
  2. Sound travels about 1480 m/s in water. How far above the lake bottom is the school of fish, Ari?

  3. Sound travels about 1480 m/s in water. How far above the lake bottom is the school of fish, Bo?

  4. Sound travels about 1480 m/s in water. How far above the lake bottom is the school of fish, Esme?

  5. Two sheets of tinted film (example data)

    sheetlight transmitted (%)
    Sheet 170
    Sheet 270
  6. Light passes through both sheets in a row. What share of the light gets through them, Jun?

    • 40%, since each sheet blocks 30% and 100% − 30% − 30% leaves 40% for the light to get through
    • 49%, since the second sheet passes 70% of the 70% the first one let through
    • 35%, since two sheets of film cut the light by half, and half of 70% is 35%
    • 70%, since the sheets are identical, so the second sheet changes nothing about the light
  7. Two layers of a lens (example data)

    layerlight transmitted (%)
    Coating80
    Tinted plastic50
  8. Light passes through both layers in a row. What share of the light gets through them, Kira?

    • 65%, since the average of 80% and 50% is what reaches the eye, so the layers share the work
    • 50%, since the layer that passes less light decides what reaches the eye, whatever the other does
    • 30%, since the layers block 20% and 50%, and 100% − 20% − 50% leaves 30% for the eye
    • 40%, since the tinted plastic passes 50% of the 80% the coating let through
  9. Three identical glass sheets (example data)

    sheetlight transmitted (%)
    Sheet 190
    Sheet 290
    Sheet 390
  10. Light passes through three glass sheets in a row. What share of the light gets through them, Luz?

    • 27%, since three sheets with 9 tenths each leave 3 times 9 percent
    • 90%, since the three sheets are identical and the extra sheets add nothing
    • About 73%, since each sheet passes 90% of the light that reaches it
    • 70%, since each sheet blocks 10% and 100% − 10% − 10% − 10% is 70%
  11. Opaque materials in a light test (example data)

    materialreflected (%)absorbed (%)transmitted (%)
    Black paper3970
    White paper80200
    Polished metal9550
  12. Milo claims an opaque object absorbs all the light that hits it. What do the data show?

    • Opaque materials reflect all the light, since none of it passes through them, so it all bounces back
    • Only black materials are opaque, since the lighter ones reflect so much of the light that hits them
    • Opaque materials transmit none, but each reflects and absorbs light, in different shares
    • Opaque materials absorb all the light, since none of it passes through them, so the rest is taken in
  13. Speech sound meeting a wall (example data)

    wavereflected (%)absorbed (%)transmitted (%)
    Speech75520
  14. Noah says a wave reflected by a wall cannot also pass through it. What does the table show?

    • The same wall reflects 75% of the sound and transmits 20%, so one wave splits into shares
    • The reflected sound equals the transmitted sound, since the wall passes both of them equally
    • The wall reflects 75%, so the 20% that transmits must be a measuring error
    • A wave does one thing at a wall, and the table just lists the three things in turn, one per column
  15. Sunglass lenses tested (example data)

    lensvisible light passed (%)ultraviolet passed (%)
    Clear lens with UV coating921
    Dark lens, no coating1560
  16. Pia says darker lenses always block more ultraviolet light. Do the data support that?

    • No: ultraviolet passes through any lens equally, so the lens makes no difference
    • No: the clear coated lens passes 92% of visible light but only 1% of the ultraviolet
    • Yes: darker lenses absorb more light, and ultraviolet is light, so the rule holds for lenses
    • Yes: the dark lens passes less visible light, 15%, so it must pass less ultraviolet light
  17. A straw in a glass of water looks broken at the water line. Which explanation fits the wave model, Ren?

    • The water absorbs the light from the part under water, and that energy vanishes, so the part looks shifted
    • The straw really bends when it gets wet, and the light just shows the new bent shape of the straw
    • The water surface reflects the light from the straw sideways, so the part under water seems shifted from where it is
    • Light from the part under water changes speed and bends leaving the water, so the eye traces it to the wrong place
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8th grade When waves are reflected, absorbed or passed through worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

When waves are reflected, absorbed or passed through. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can find the share of light or sound a material transmits from its reflected and absorbed shares, and check that the three shares add to 100%.
  • I can choose a material for a purpose from a table (an echo-free wall, sunglasses, a mirror, window film, a solar cooker) by reading the right columns, not one number.
  • I can use the law of reflection (angle of reflection equals angle of incidence, both from the normal) and explain why light bends toward the normal when it slows down and away when it speeds up.
  • I can find a distance from an echo (halve the round trip), including the gap between two echoes from a boat's depth finder.
  • I can explain what a wave does at a material with the wave model, including why absorbed energy becomes thermal energy rather than disappearing.
  • I can judge a fair test of materials and a claim such as "an opaque object absorbs all the light" against a table.

Standard: MS-PS4-2

Words to know

reflect: Bounce back off a surface

absorb: Take in the wave's energy, often warming the material

transmit: Pass through the material

refraction: A wave bending as it changes speed passing into another material

normal: A line at 90° to a surface, used to measure angles

opaque: Lets no light through

echo: Sound reflected back to the listener

Common mistakes

Your child added up the light that did not get through. Light has three fates, so subtract the reflected and absorbed shares from 100% to find what is transmitted.

Your child subtracted only the reflected share. Absorbed light does not pass through either, so both shares come off the 100%.

Your child used the whole echo path as the distance to the wall. The sound goes out and comes back, so the wall is half of the path.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with when waves are reflected, absorbed or passed through?

Your child added up the light that did not get through. Light has three fates, so subtract the reflected and absorbed shares from 100% to find what is transmitted.

Are these 8th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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