Understandings:
- Wavefronts and rays
- Amplitude and intensity
- Superposition
- Polarization
Applications and skills:
- Sketching and interpreting diagrams involving wavefronts and rays
- Solving problems involving amplitude, intensity and the inverse square law
- Sketching and interpreting the superposition of pulses and waves
- Describing methods of polarization
- Sketching and interpreting diagrams illustrating polarized, reflected and transmitted beams
- Solving problems involving Malus’s law
Guidance:
- Students will be expected to calculate the resultant of two waves or pulses both graphically and algebraically
- Methods of polarization will be restricted to the use of polarizing filters and reflection from a non-metallic plane surface
Data booklet reference:
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Theory of knowledge:
- Wavefronts and rays are visualizations that help our understanding of reality, characteristic of modelling in the physical sciences. How does the methodology used in the natural sciences differ from the methodology used in the human sciences?
- How much detail does a model need to contain to accurately represent reality?
Utilization:
- A number of modern technologies, such as LCD displays, rely on polarization for their operation
Aims:
- Aim 3: these universal behaviours of waves are applied in later sections of the course in more advanced topics, allowing students to generalize the various types of waves
- Aim 6: experiments could include (but are not limited to): observation of polarization under different conditions, including the use of microwaves; superposition of waves; representation of wave types using physical models (eg slinky demonstrations)
- Aim 7: use of computer modelling enables students to observe wave motion in three dimensions as well as being able to more accurately adjust wave characteristics in superposition demonstrations
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