When waves are reflected, absorbed or passed through
Grade 8 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.
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Depth finder echoes on a fishing boat (example data)
echo from time after the pulse (s) Fish school 0.05 Lake bottom 0.15 Sound travels about 1480 m/s in water. How far above the lake bottom is the school of fish, Ari?
Sound travels about 1480 m/s in water. How far above the lake bottom is the school of fish, Bo?
Sound travels about 1480 m/s in water. How far above the lake bottom is the school of fish, Esme?
Two sheets of tinted film (example data)
sheet light transmitted (%) Sheet 1 70 Sheet 2 70 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
Two layers of a lens (example data)
layer light transmitted (%) Coating 80 Tinted plastic 50 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
Three identical glass sheets (example data)
sheet light transmitted (%) Sheet 1 90 Sheet 2 90 Sheet 3 90 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%
Opaque materials in a light test (example data)
material reflected (%) absorbed (%) transmitted (%) Black paper 3 97 0 White paper 80 20 0 Polished metal 95 5 0 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
Speech sound meeting a wall (example data)
wave reflected (%) absorbed (%) transmitted (%) Speech 75 5 20 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
Sunglass lenses tested (example data)
lens visible light passed (%) ultraviolet passed (%) Clear lens with UV coating 92 1 Dark lens, no coating 15 60 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
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

