Contents
Independent final check
Explain without the key
state / describe / give / define / calculate
Final check
(a) State what a wave transfers from place to place, and what it does not transfer. (b) Describe the difference between a transverse and a longitudinal wave, and give one example of each. (c) Define the wavelength and the amplitude of a wave. (d) 20 waves pass a mark in 5.0 s. They travel at 0.24 m/s. Calculate their wavelength. (e) Describe how to measure the wavelength of water waves in a ripple tank accurately.
state: give a concise answer. describe: give the features or what happens. give: produce an answer from the information or from memory. define: give the precise meaning. calculate: work out the answer from the data.
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Scope and sources
Cambridge IGCSE Physics 0625 · 2026–2028 v2 · Original learning materials.
Waves transfer energy without transferring matter (3.1.1); wave motion on a spring and in a ripple tank (3.1.2); wavefront, wavelength, frequency, crest, trough, amplitude and wave speed (3.1.3); wave speed = frequency × wavelength (3.1.4); transverse and longitudinal waves, with examples (3.1.5, 3.1.6); reflection at a plane surface, refraction by a change of speed and diffraction through a narrow gap (3.1.7), shown in a ripple tank, with refraction by a change of depth and diffraction at a gap and an edge (3.1.8); Supplement: how the gap size and the wavelength affect diffraction at a gap (3.1.9) and at an edge (3.1.10). The law of reflection with angles is in Reflection in mirrors, Snell’s law in Refraction and total internal reflection, and the electromagnetic spectrum and sound have their own modules.
Apparatus, amounts and times in the experiment are illustrative. Real practical work follows a teacher-approved safety method.
Official Cambridge syllabus