Wave Speed

Related Physics Education Research

Making Sense of How Students Make Sense of Waves Micael C. Wittmann, Richard N. Steinberg and Edward F. Redish, The Physics Teacher 37, 15 - 21 (1999).

Overview of Worksheet

This allows students to test their hypotheses about what parameters effect the speed of a wave.

Approximate Time

Half an hour.

Required Student Background

Students need to know how to isolate variables and how to minimize error by timing a large number of oscillations. They need to know what velocity is.

Connections to the Tutorials

There is a similar investigation in the tutorials, but students do not get to design or carry out their own experiments.

Required Equipment

Slinkies, rulers, stop watches.

Evaluation of Worksheet

On the final for the course (about twelve weeks after this experiment) 44% of the students who did this worksheet correctly answered a multiple choice question about the speed of the wave, stating that it is not affected by the speed of the hand generating the wave. Twelve percent of students who did not use the worksheet got the answer correct.