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Recall and explain
A loudspeaker plays a loud, low note. (a) State whether sound is a transverse or a longitudinal wave, and state one kind of wave that is modelled as the other kind. (b) A candle flame in front of the loudspeaker flickers towards it and away from it, but it is not blown away. Explain what this shows about what the sound transfers. (c) Another note from the loudspeaker has a frequency of 425 Hz and travels at 340 m/s. State what a frequency of 425 Hz means, and calculate the wavelength of this note. (d) A pupil models this sound with a slinky lying on a smooth floor. Describe how to move the end of the slinky, and explain why this models the sound.
state: give a concise answer. explain: give reasons and connect them to evidence. calculate: work out the answer from the data. describe: give the features or what happens.
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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