Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics · specification 4PH1 · Paper 1 | Whole paper: Core content, all eight topics · Free · no account needed
3(b) Properties of waves (4PH1 specification)
What all waves have in common, the wave equation, and the two behaviours every wave shows at a boundary.
Learn it on Incandio
The 5 Incandio pages that teach this — each explained in full, then proved in marked questions, taught back to an AI pupil and defended in a debate. Completely free.
- What a Wave Is — Something crosses the room and nothing gets to the other side — the idea that makes the rest of the topic possible.
- The Wave Equation — Two equations that connect everything on the previous page — and one of them you could have worked out yourself.
- The Doppler Effect — Why an ambulance changes note as it passes — and why the siren itself never does.
- The Electromagnetic Spectrum — Seven names for one thing — and the two properties that change as you go along it.
- Uses and Dangers of Electromagnetic Radiation — Seven bands, seven jobs — and why the danger rises steadily as you move along the spectrum.
The teaching route this belongs to: Topic 3 · Waves (Physics) — the lessons in order, with every gate.
Specification coverage
Topic 3 Waves (b) Properties of waves — statements 3.2–3.13
Assessment objectives: AO1, AO2, AO3. Suggested learning time: 70 minutes.
Required knowledge
- Amplitude, frequency, wavelength and period
- The difference between longitudinal and transverse waves, with examples of each
- wave speed = frequency × wavelength, v = fλ
- frequency = 1 ÷ time period
- Reflection, refraction and diffraction, and how to represent them with wavefronts
- The law of reflection and the behaviour of light at a plane mirror
Required skills
- Use the wave equation with consistent units
- Draw ray diagrams for reflection and refraction
- Explain refraction in terms of change of speed at a boundary
- Describe and evaluate the required practical: Investigate the refraction of light using rectangular blocks, semicircular blocks and triangular prisms.
How it is examined
- Multiple-choice and short-answer recall
- Calculations using the specification's relationships
- Extended open-response applying the physics to an unfamiliar situation
- Practical questions on method, variables, results and sources of error
Common mistakes
- Saying refraction happens 'because the light bends'. It bends because its speed changes at the boundary — that is the explanation, not the observation.
- Mixing units: a wavelength in centimetres with a speed in metres per second.
- Measuring angles from the surface instead of from the normal.
This page maps the specification. The pages above teach it, and the Physics lessons hold the whole course — completely free.