Interference and standing waves
Grade 11 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.
Waves travel at 120 m/s on a string 0.6 m long. What frequency makes a standing wave with 1 loop, Ari?
Waves travel at 240 m/s on a string 0.8 m long. What frequency makes a standing wave with 3 loops, Bo?
Waves travel at 90 m/s on a string 0.5 m long. What frequency makes a standing wave with 2 loops, Esme?
Read this first
Standing waves on one string (example data)
Loops Frequency (Hz) 1 100 2 200 3 300 4 ? Using the table, what frequency gives 4 loops, Jun?
- 500 Hz
- 1600 Hz
- 400 Hz
Using the table, the string is 0.5 m long. How fast do waves travel on it, Kira?
- 100 m/s
- 200 m/s
- 50 m/s
Using the table, why can't this string make a standing wave at 250 Hz, Luz?
- It isn't a whole-number multiple of 100 Hz
- Standing waves need odd numbers of loops
- 250 Hz is too high for any string
Milo says destructive interference destroys energy. Agree or disagree?
- Agree: cancelled waves lose their energy
- Agree: the quiet spots soak it up for good
- Disagree: the energy moves to the loud spots
Pia says the nodes on a standing wave are points where two waves always cancel. Agree or disagree?
- Disagree: nodes move along the string
- Agree: the two waves meet out of step there
- Disagree: nodes are where the string moves most
A string's lowest note is 200 Hz. What is it if the string is held at half its length, Ren?
- 400 Hz
- 200 Hz
- 100 Hz
Tightening a string makes waves travel faster on it. What happens to its lowest note, Tala?
- It rises
- It stays the same
- It falls