1. A transverse wave travels from left to right. The diagram below shows how, at a particular instant of time, the displacement of particles in the medium varies with position. Which arrow represents the direction of the velocity of the particle marked P? IB Questionbank Physics 1
2. Light travels from air into glass as shown below. What is the refractive index of glass? A. B. C. D. sin P sin S sin Q sin R sin P sin R sin Q sin S IB Questionbank Physics 2
3. Which of the following electromagnetic waves has a frequency greater than that of visible light? A. Ultraviolet B. Radio C. Microwaves D. Infrared 4. A particle oscillates with simple harmonic motion with period T. At time t = 0, the particle has its maximum displacement. Which graph shows the variation with time t of the kinetic energy E k of the particle? IB Questionbank Physics 3
5. The graph shows measurements of the height h of sea level at different times t in the Bay of Fundy. Which of the following gives the approximate amplitude and period of the tides? Amplitude Period A. 6.5 m 6 hours B. 13 m 12 hours C. 6.5 m 12 hours D. 13 m 6 hours IB Questionbank Physics 4
6. Two waves meet at a point. The waves have a path difference of 4. The phase difference between the waves is A. B. C. π 8 π 4 π 2 rad. rad. rad. D. π rad. 7. A string vibrates with fundamental frequency f. The wavelength of the sound produced in air is λ. Which of the following correctly gives the frequency of vibration of the fourth harmonic of the string and the wavelength of the sound in air? A. Frequency f 2 Wavelength 4 B. 4 f 4λ C. f 2 4λ D. 4 f 4 IB Questionbank Physics 5
8. Which of the following is a value of wavelength that is found in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum? A. 4 10 5 m B. 4 10 7 m C. 4 10 9 m D. 4 10 11 m 9. Two waves meet at a point in space. Which of the following properties always add together? A. Displacement B. Amplitude C. Speed D. Frequency IB Questionbank Physics 6
10. The diagram below is a snapshot of wave fronts of circular waves emitted by a point source S at the surface of water. The source vibrates at a frequency f = 10.0 Hz. The speed of the wave front is A. 0.15 cm s 1. B. 1.5 cm s 1. C. 15 cm s 1. D. 30 cm s 1. IB Questionbank Physics 7
11. An object at the end of a spring oscillates vertically with simple harmonic motion. The graph shows the variation with time t of the displacement x. The amplitude is x 0 and the period of oscillation is T. Which of the following is the correct expression for the maximum acceleration of the object? A. 2 x 0 T B. 2 2 x 0 T 2 4 C. x 2 0 T 2 4 D. x0 T IB Questionbank Physics 8
12. One end of a horizontal string is fixed to a wall. A transverse pulse moves along the string as shown. Which of the following statements are correct for the reflected pulse compared to the forward pulse? I. It moves more slowly. II. III. It has less energy. It is inverted. A. I and II only B. I and III only C. II and III only D. I, II and III 13. Monochromatic light travels from air into water. Which of the following describes the changes in wavelength and speed? Wavelength Speed A. increases decreases B. increases increases C. decreases increases D. decreases decreases IB Questionbank Physics 9
14. Which of the following graphs shows the variation with displacement x of the speed v of a particle performing simple harmonic motion. 15. A particle performs simple harmonic oscillations. Which of the following quantities will be unaffected by a reduction in the amplitude of oscillations? A. The total energy B. The maximum speed C. The maximum acceleration D. The period IB Questionbank Physics 10
16. A mass on the end of a horizontal spring is displaced from its equilibrium position by a distance A and released. Its subsequent oscillations have total energy E and time period T. An identical mass is attached to an identical spring. The maximum displacement is 2A. Assuming this spring obeys Hooke s law, which of the following gives the correct time period and total energy? New time period New energy A. T 4E B. T 2E C. 2 T 4E D. 2 T 2E 17. What is the best estimate for the refractive index of a medium in which light travels at a speed of 2.7 10 8 m s 1? A. 0.9 B. 1.0 C. 1.1 D. 2.7 IB Questionbank Physics 11
18. A cart, connected to two identical springs, is oscillating with simple harmonic motion between two points X and Y that are equidistant from point O. The cart is in equilibrium at A. all points between X and Y. B. point O only. C. points X and Y only. D. points O, X and Y only. 19. During one complete oscillation, the amplitude of a damped harmonic motion changes from 1.5 cm to 0.30 cm. The total energy at the end of the oscillation is E 2 and the total energy at the E 2 beginning of the oscillation is E 1. The ratio is E 1 A. 1. 5 B. 1. 25 C. 5. D. 25. IB Questionbank Physics 12
20. Plane wavefronts are incident on a boundary between two media labelled 1 and 2 in the diagram. The diagram of the wavefronts is drawn to scale. The ratio of the refractive index of medium 2 to that of medium 1 is A. 0.50. B. 0.67. C. 1.5. D. 2.0. IB Questionbank Physics 13
21. A wave pulse is travelling to the right along a string. Which of the following best represents the direction of the velocity of the point P? A. B. C. D. IB Questionbank Physics 14
22. Diagram 1 represents equally spaced beads on a spring. The beads are 1 cm apart. Diagram 1 A longitudinal wave propagates along the spring. Diagram 2 shows the position of the beads at a particular instant. Diagram 2 Which of the following is the best estimate of the wavelength? A. 2 cm B. 4 cm C. 8 cm D. 16 cm IB Questionbank Physics 15
23. Diagram 1 represents equally spaced beads on a spring. The beads are 1 cm apart. Diagram 1 A longitudinal wave propagates along the spring. Diagram 2 shows the position of the beads at a particular instant. Diagram 2 Which of the following is the best estimate of the amplitude? A. 0.4 cm B. 0.8 cm C. 1.6 cm D. 3.2 cm 24. The fundamental (first harmonic) frequency for a particular organ pipe is 330 Hz. The pipe is closed at one end but open at the other. What is the frequency of its second harmonic? A. 110 Hz B. 165 Hz C. 660 Hz D. 990 Hz IB Questionbank Physics 16
25. Plane-polarized light is incident normally on a polarizer which is able to rotate in the plane perpendicular to the light as shown below. In diagram 1, the intensity of the incident light is 8 W m 2 and the transmitted intensity of light is 2 W m 2. Diagram 2 shows the polarizer rotated 90 from the orientation in diagram 1. What is the new transmitted intensity? A. 0 W m 2 B. 2 W m 2 C. 6 W m 2 D. 8 W m 3 IB Questionbank Physics 17
26. The fundamental (first harmonic) frequency of the note emitted by an organ pipe closed at one end is f. What is the fundamental frequency of the note emitted by an organ pipe of the same length that is open at both ends? A. B. f 4 f 2 C. 2f D. 4f 27. Unpolarized light is shone through two identical polarizers whose axes are parallel. The ratio I I 0 is A. 100 %. B. 50 %. C. 25 %. D. 0 %. IB Questionbank Physics 18
28. Which of the following statements is true for a standing wave on a string? A. No energy is transferred along the string. B. The maximum kinetic energy of each segment of the string is proportional to the amplitude of the segment. C. Each segment of the string oscillates with different phase and frequency. D. The amplitude along the string varies with time. 29. The diagram represents a beam of unpolarized light incident on a diamond. The refractive index of the diamond is n. At an angle θ p, the beam reflected from the diamond is plane polarized normal to the page. The angle θ p is A. tan 1 n. B. tan 1 1. n C. sin 1 1. n D. cos 1 1. n IB Questionbank Physics 19
30. Two polarizing sheets have planes of polarization that are initially parallel. The incoming light on sheet 1 is unpolarized. The intensity of the light transmitted is I. To reduce the intensity to 2 I, which sheet must be rotated and through what angle? Sheet to be rotated Rotation angle A. 1 only θ = cos 1 1 2 B. 2 only θ = cos 1 1 2 C. 1 or 2 θ = cos 1 1 2 D. 1 or 2 θ = cos 1 1 2 31. Which of the following is a correct comparison between standing waves and travelling waves? Standing waves A. wave amplitude is constant at all points along the wave Travelling waves wave amplitude depends upon the position along the wave B. energy is always transferred energy is not transferred C. the wavelength is twice the distance between consecutive nodes D. phase varies continuously along the wave the wavelength is the distance between consecutive crests phase is constant between consecutive crests IB Questionbank Physics 20
32. A tube is filled with water and a vibrating tuning fork is held above its open end. The tap at the base of the tube is opened. As the water runs out, the sound is loudest when the water level is a distance x below the top of the tube. A second loud sound is heard when the water level is a distance y below the top. Which of the following is a correct expression for the wavelength of the sound produced by the tuning fork? A. = y B. = 2x C. = y x D. = 2(y x) IB Questionbank Physics 21
33. Unpolarized light of intensity I 0 is incident on a polarizer. The transmitted light is then incident on a second polarizer. The axis of the second polarizer makes an angle of 60 to the axis of the first polarizer. 1 The cosine of 60 is. The intensity of the light transmitted through the second polarizer is 2 A. I 0. I B. 0. 2 I C. 0. 4 I D. 0. 8 IB Questionbank Physics 22