Definitions and Concepts for CAIE Physics GCSE
Topic 3: Properties of Waves, Including Light
and Sound
Definitions in bold are for extended students only
3.1 General Wave Properties
Amplitude: The maximum displacement of a wave from its undisturbed (equilibrium)
position.
Diffraction: It is the bending of waves around gaps or corners. It occurs when the size of
the aperture or obstacle is of the same order of magnitude as the wavelength of the
incident wave.
Frequency: The number of waves passing a given point in a second. It is the inverse of the
wave’s time period.
Longitudinal waves: Waves with oscillations that are parallel to the direction of
travel/energy transfer.
Reflection: The bouncing back of a wave at a boundary.
Refraction: The changing of speed, and consequently the direction, of a wave as it changes
medium. The wavelength of the wave will also change but the frequency remains constant.
Speed of a wave: The speed is the distance traveled by a given point on the wave in a given
interval of time.
Transverse waves: Waves with oscillations that are perpendicular to the direction of
travel/energy transfer.
Vibration: Is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium
point.
Water waves: They are waves propagating on the water surface.
Wave: A process of energy transfer through oscillations, without matter being transferred
with it.
Wavefront: An imaginary surface representing points of a wave that are at the same point in
their cycle.
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Wavelength: The distance from a point on one wave to the same point on the adjacent wave
(ie. peak to peak or trough to trough).
3.2 Light
3.2.1 Reflection of Light
Angle of incidence: The angle which an incident line or ray makes with a perpendicular to
the surface at the point of incidence.
Angle of reflection: The angle made by a reflected ray with a perpendicular to the reflecting
surface.
Optical image: It is the apparent reproduction of an object, formed by a lens or mirror
system from reflected, refracted, or diffracted light waves.
Plane mirror: It is a flat reflective surface. The image formed by a plane mirror is always
virtual, upright, and of the same shape and size as the object it is reflecting.
3.2.2 Refraction of Light
Critical angle: The angle of incidence beyond which all the wave is totally internally reflected
when it meets a boundary.
Optical fibres: A thin flexible fibre with a glass core through which light signals can be
transmitted along its axis, by the process of total internal reflection.
Parallel: Two lines that are always the same distance apart and never meet.
Refractive Index: The ratio of the speed of the wave in a vacuum to the speed of the
wave in a given medium.
Transparent: A material allowing light to pass through.
Total internal reflection: The process of all a wave being reflected when it meets a
boundary. It occurs when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle, and only
when going from a higher refractive index to a lower one.
3.2.3 Thin Converging Lens
Diminished: Made smaller or less.
Enlarged: Having become or been made larger.
Focal length: Is the distance between the centre of the lens and the principal focus.
Focus: Is the point where light rays originating from a point on the object converge.
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Magnifying glass: It is a convex lens that lets the observer see a larger image of the
object under observation.
Principal focus: Is the point where rays of light travelling parallel to the principal axis
intersect the principal axis and converge.
Real Image: An image produced by light-rays physically converging. Real images are ones
that can be projected onto a screen.
Single lens: A lens that consists of a single piece of transparent material.
Thin converging lens: Lens that focuses the diverging, or blurred, light rays from a distant
object by refracting (bending) the rays.
Virtual image: An image produced by the apparent, but not actual, divergence of
light-rays. Virtual images cannot be projected onto a screen.
3.2.4 Dispersion of Light
Dispersion: Is defined to be the spreading of white light into its full spectrum of wavelengths.
Glass prism: Is a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light.
Monochromatic light: Is light where the optical spectrum contains only a single optical
frequency.
Spectrum: Is the range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation and their respective
wavelengths and photon energies.
3.3 Electromagnetic Spectrum
Electromagnetic spectrum: A group of transverse waves that cover a large range of
frequencies and wavelengths. The highest frequency waves in the spectrum are gamma-rays
and the lowest are radio waves. Speed of electromagnetic waves in a vacuum is 3.0 × 108
m/s and is approximately the same in air.
Infrared: Used for cooking food, thermal imaging and short range communications. It can
cause skin burns.
Microwaves: Used for satellite communications and for cooking food. They can cause
internal heating of body cells.
Radio Waves: Used for television and radio signals. They can be produced by
oscillations in electrical circuits, or can induce these oscillations themselves.
Vacuum: Space in which there is no matter
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Wavelength: The distance from a point on one wave to the same point on the adjacent wave
(ie. peak to peak or trough to trough).
X-Rays: Used for medical imaging and security scanners. They can cause cell damage and
mutations.
3.4 Sound
Audible frequencies: It is a periodic vibration whose frequency is in the band audible to the
average human, the human hearing range, which is 20Hz to 20000Hz
Compressions: They are regions of high pressure due to particles being close together.
Echo: Is a distinct, reflected sound wave from a surface.
Loudness: A measure of the amplitude of the oscillations of a sound wave. The larger the
amplitude, the louder the sound will be.
Pitch: A measure of the frequency of the oscillations of a sound wave. The higher the
frequency, the higher the pitch of the sound.
Rarefactions: They are regions of low pressure due to particles being spread further apart.
Sound waves: The longitudinal waves responsible for sound. They are produced by
vibrating sources and they require a medium to travel through, transmitted by the vibrations
of the medium’s particles.
Speed of sound: The speed of sound is the distance travelled per unit of time by a sound
wave as it propagates through a medium.
Ultrasound waves: Waves that have a frequency higher than the upper limit of human
hearing (20kHz).
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