Starter quiz
- What do waves transfer?
- energy ✓
- matter
- water
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- Fill in the gap: Water waves are an example of ______ waves.
- 'transverse' ✓
- What's the missing word? Sound waves and ultrasound are examples of ______ waves.
- longitudinal ✓
- transverse
- electromagnetic
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- Match the waves to their descriptions
- ultrasound⇔A wave that has too high a frequency to hear. ✓
- microwaves⇔A wave used in mobile phone communications. ✓
- light⇔A wave that we detect with our eyes. ✓
- What happens when a wave is refracted?
- The wave changes speed. ✓
- The wave always goes in the same direction.
- The wave goes back to where it started.
-
- What type of waves cannot travel through liquids?
- longitudinal and transverse waves
- longitudinal waves only
- transverse waves only ✓
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Exit quiz
- Where are tectonic plates found?
- in the mantle
- in the crust ✓
- on the oceans' surface
- between the mantle and the outer core
-
- Which statement best describes where earthquakes occur?
- Near the edges of tectonic plates. ✓
- In the middle of continents.
- Under the surface of oceans.
- In mountainous regions of Earth.
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- Which of the statements about S waves are correct?
- The oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of travel. ✓
- They are transverse waves. ✓
- The oscillations are both perpendicular and parallel to the direction of travel.
- They travel faster than P waves.
- They can travel through liquids.
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- Fill in the gap: P waves are ______ seismic waves that travel at different speeds through solids and liquids.
- 'longitudinal' ✓
- Starting with the outermost layer, sort the different layers of the Earth into the correct order.
- 1⇔crust
- 2⇔mantle
- 3⇔outer core
- 4⇔inner core
- What causes S waves and P waves to curve as they travel through the Earth?
- refraction ✓
- diffraction
- crossing a boundary between layers
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- Earthquakes usually occur near to the edges of tectonic plates
- P waves and S waves are produced deep underground where tectonic plates slip and cause vibrations in rock
- P waves are longitudinal waves and travel through liquid
- S waves are transverse waves and cannot travel through liquid layers inside Earth
- P waves and S waves provide evidence for the internal structure of Earth
Common misconception
Many students think the mantle is liquid or semi-liquid. Some think it contains soil or water.
The mantle is almost all solid rock. Less than 1% of it is liquid e.g. at spreading plate boundaries, subduction zones and hot-spots.
Keywords
Earthquake - An earthquake is caused by the sudden sliding movement of tectonic plates against each other.
S wave - S waves are transverse seismic waves that travel through solids but not liquids.
P wave - P waves are longitudinal seismic waves that travel at different speeds through solids and liquids.
Transverse - A transverse wave is where the wave oscillates perpendicular to the direction of travel.
Longitudinal - A longitudinal wave is where the wave oscillates along the direction of travel with areas of compression and rarefaction.