Outcomes

A student:

• conducts investigations to collect valid and reliable primary and secondary data and information PH11/12-3
• selects and processes appropriate qualitative and quantitative data and information using a range of appropriate media PH11/12-4
• solves scientific problems using primary and secondary data, critical thinking skills and scientific processes PH11/12-6
• communicates scientific understanding using suitable language and terminology for a specific audience or purpose PH11/12-7
• explains and analyses waves and the transfer of energy by sound, light and thermodynamic principles PH11-10

Content Focus

Wave motion involves the transfer of energy without the transfer of matter. By exploring the behaviour of wave motion and examining the characteristics of wavelength, frequency, period, velocity and amplitude, students further their understanding of the properties of waves. They are then able to demonstrate how waves can be reflected, refracted, diffracted and superposed (interfered) and to develop an understanding that not all waves require a medium for their propagation. Students examine mechanical waves and electromagnetic waves, including their similarities and differences.

Students also examine energy and its transfer, in the form of heat, from one place to another. Thermodynamics is the study of the relationship between energy, work, temperature and matter. Understanding this relationship allows students to appreciate particle motion within objects. Students have the opportunity to examine how hot objects lose energy in three ways: first, by conduction, and, second, by convection – which both involve the motion of particles; and, third, the emission of electromagnetic radiation. An understanding of thermodynamics is a pathway to understanding related concepts in many fields involving Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Working Scientifically

In this module, students focus on conducting investigations, collecting and processing data and information, interpreting trends in data and communicating scientific ideas about waves and thermodynamics. Students should be provided with opportunities to engage with all the Working Scientifically skills throughout the course.

Content

Wave Properties

Inquiry question: What are the properties of all waves and wave motion?

Students:

• conduct a practical investigation involving the creation of mechanical waves in a variety of situations in order to explain:

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  • the role of the medium in the propagation of mechanical waves
  • the transfer of energy involved in the propagation of mechanical waves (ACSPH067, ACSPH070)

• conduct practical investigations to explain and analyse the differences between:

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  • transverse and longitudinal waves (ACSPH068)
  • mechanical and electromagnetic waves (ACSPH070, ACSPH074)

• construct and/or interpret graphs of displacement as a function of time and as a function of position of transverse and longitudinal waves, and relate the features of those graphs to the following wave characteristics:

  • velocity

  • frequency

  • period

  • wavelength

  • displacement and amplitude (ACSPH069)

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• solve problems and/or make predictions by modelling and applying the following relationships to a variety of situations:

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  • v=fλ
  • f=1T