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SL - Wave Behaviour

25 MCQ from 2025 Question Bank Wave Behaviour (all topics)

DP IB SL Physics Quiz

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1. A student blows across the open end of a narrow cylinder which is closed at the other end. If the length of the cylinder is  and the speed of sound is 340 ms^−1, What is the frequency of the wave at the third harmonic?

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2. Sound waves in water travel approximately 4.5 times faster than in air. Which of the following diagrams correctly shows the wavefronts of sound as they pass from air to water?

A. B.
PH0152A PH0152B
C. D.
PH0152C PH0152D

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3. For a wave traveling in a medium, the variation of the particles' displacement with distance travelled is shown in the following graphs, which represent the wave at different moments in time of a wave travelling to the right.

Graph I shows the wave at t=0 s, while graph II is at t=1s.

The time difference between the two graphs is less than the wave's period.

Graph I

PH0373

Graph II

PH0373-1

 

What is the wave speed?

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4. A wave travels on a rope as shown, where  is a point on the rope halfway between the equilibrium position and the maximum displacement.

PH0374

Which is correct about the direction and magnitude of the velocity of point  after half a period compared to the shown position?

 Direction  Magnitude
 A. Up Increases
 B. Up Same
 C. Down Decrease
 D. Down Same

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5. A speaker produces a sound near a pipe that is closed at one end by a movable piston. The piston is moved in the shown direction until a sound is first heard from the pipe. At this time, the length of the part of the tube near the speaker is .

PH0402

What is the distance moved by the piston to hear the next resonant sound from the pipe?

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6. A monochromatic beam of light is incident on a double slit arrangement where the slit separation is 9.0×10^−5m and the slit-screen distance is 1.0m. The graph below shows the relative intensity of the light reaching the screen with respect to the distance from the central point of the pattern.

PH0122

What is the wavelength of the light?

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7. A thin beam of monochromatic blue light is incident upon a single slit barrier. The emerging light then passes through a double slit arrangement and falls on a screen some distance away.

An interference pattern is observed on the screen. In order to increase the distance between adjacent fringes, which of the following actions would be appropriate?

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8. A light source approaches a stationary receiver at an increasing speed. The frequency of the emitted light is constant. Which graph shows how the observed frequency  by receiver varies with the speed v of the light source?

A. B.
PH0319A PH0319B
C. D.
PH0319C PH0319D

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9. A  string that is fixed at both ends produces a standing wave in the third harmonic. The speed of the wave on the string is 200 m s^−1

What is the frequency of oscillation?

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10. For a body executing simple harmonic motion, which statement is not possible?

 

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11. A radio with a bright light is placed outside the doorway of long, dark room as shown. A student in a corner near the door can hear the sound of the radio while standing in the dark region of the room.

PH0208

Which property of waves correctly explains why light does not reach her while the sound does?

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12. A radio wave of frequency  travels a distance d. The number of wavelengths that can fit into this distance is 6000. What is ?

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13.  

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14. An object executes simple harmonic motion with an amplitude of x0. Which graph shows the relationship between the kinetic energy  and the displacement  from the equilibrium position of the object?

A. B.
PH0167A PH0167B
C. D.
PH0167C PH0167D

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15. A string fixed at both ends oscillates in a standing wave as shown with a wavelength of .

PH0399

What is the length of the string?

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16. A particle performs simple harmonic motion with a frequency of . The distance traveled by the particle in one complete oscillation is . Which of the following graphs shows a correct variation of its position?

A. B.
PH0294A PH0294B
C. D.
PH0294C PH0294D

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17. Two identical objects  and  are connected to identical springs. Both P and  are performing simple harmonic motion (SHM) around equilibrium level .

PH0044

The diagram shows positions of  and  at time . Which graph shows how kinetic energy of  and Q vary with time t?

A. B.
PH0044A PH0044B
C. D.
PH0044C PH0044D

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18. A traveling wave is generated on a string tied to a speaker as shown.

PH0449

Which of the following statements are correct about the travelling wave?

  • I. If the frequency of the sound decreases, the wavelength of the travelling wave increases.
    II. If the speaker emits a louder sound the amplitude of the travelling wave increases.
    III. If the frequency of the sound increases, the travelling wave moves along the string faster.

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19. Incident light of wavelength  is emitted towards two slits separated by . The interference pattern is observed on a wall. The distance between two adjacent maxima is . What is the distance of the wall from the slits?

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20. The diagram shows a beam of light passing from medium  to medium .

PH0451

If the angle of incidence of the light increases, which of the following changes can be implemented to keep the angle of refraction the same?

I. Medium X can be replaced with another medium which has a lower refractive index.
II. Medium X can be replaced with another medium which has a higher refractive index.
III. Medium Y can be replaced with another medium which has a higher refractive index.

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21. A simple pendulum executing simple harmonic motion is released from one end and reaches equilibrium position in . Just after the equilibrium position, the length of the pendulum is reduced to one-fourth of its initial value because of wrapping around a nail.

PH0163

What is the period of the simple pendulum?

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22. A simple pendulum undergoes simple harmonic motion. The graph shows the variation of a quantity  with horizontal displacement  from the equilibrium position.

PH0173

Which of the following quantities could be represented by quantity ?

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23. A traveling source produces sound waves nearby a child. The wavefronts of the sound waves and the position of a child are seen in the figure below.

PH0314-1

The frequency of the generated sound waves is f. Which of the following is correct for both the direction of motion of the source and the observed frequency of the sound waves by the child?

The direction of the motion Observed frequency
A. Toward the child Less than f
B. Toward the child More than f
C. Away from the child Less than f
D. Away from the child More than f

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24. A light and a heavy spring are attached at point . A pulse was generated in the light spring and incident on the heavy spring. The positions of transmitted and reflected pulses after some time are as shown.

PH0225

Which of the following is true about the incident pulse?

   Positive displacement  Larger amplitude than reflected pulse
 B. Positive displacement Smaller amplitude than reflected pulse
 C. Negative displacement Larger amplitude than reflected pulse
 D. Negative displacement Smaller amplitude than reflected pulse

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25. The graph below shows the variation with displacement  of the acceleration a from the equilibrium position of a particle that undergoes simple harmonic motion.

PH0172

The magnitude of the slope of the graph is directly proportional to

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