The Vocabulary of Waves

Science · Waves, Light & Sound · ages 9-11

Name ______________________ Date ____________

What is it called when a wave bounces off a surface instead of passing through it?
- Refraction
- Scattering
- Reflection
What word describes light bending as it moves from air into water?
- Reflection
- Refraction
- Absorption
An echo happens because sound waves are absorbed by a surface.
Circle one: True False
Light hits a flat mirror and bounces straight back the way it came. Which word names this?
- Refraction
- Reflection
- Frequency
A straw in a glass of water looks bent at the waterline. Which word explains why?
- Refraction
- Reflection
- Amplitude
You shout across a big empty gym and hear your own voice come back a moment later. What is this called?
- A refraction
- An amplitude
- An echo
A padded recording studio has soft walls, and shouting inside produces no echo at all. Why not?
- The soft walls refract the sound into a new path
- The soft walls absorb the sound instead of reflecting it
- The soft walls increase the sound's frequency
Leo says: 'The pencil looks bent in the water because light reflects off the glass.' What is wrong with his sentence?
- He should say light refracts, not reflects, as it moves into water
- He should say the pencil reflects the water
- Nothing is wrong, his sentence is correct

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Reflection · Reflection is when a wave bounces back off a surface, like light off a mirror or sound off a wall.
Refraction · Refraction is the bending of a wave as it passes into a new material, like light moving from air into water.
False · An echo happens because sound reflects, bounces back, off a hard surface. Absorption would soak the sound up instead.
Reflection · A mirror reflects light. It bounces back rather than bending into a new material.
Refraction · Light refracts, bends, as it passes from air into water, so the straw appears to bend at the surface.
An echo · The sound wave reflects off the hard walls and travels back to your ears. That returning sound is an echo.
The soft walls absorb the sound instead of reflecting it · Soft, padded walls absorb sound waves instead of reflecting them, so there is nothing left to bounce back as an echo.
He should say light refracts, not reflects, as it moves into water · The pencil looks bent because light refracts, bends, as it enters the water. Reflection would mean the light bounced back instead of passing through.