Demonstrate understanding of wave systems
This standard asks you to explain how waves behave and interact in different situations. You need to understand standing waves in pipes, the Doppler effect (why a siren sounds higher-pitched as it approaches), how waves interfere with each other, and how different objects diffract light differently.
You can use basic formulas, draw simple waves, state what happens in the Doppler effect, and identify key differences between wave phenomena.
You rearrange formulas to solve problems, explain relationships between path difference and interference using equations, describe Doppler effects with reasoning about why speed of sound stays constant, and partially explain why double slits and gratings differ.
You link multiple wave concepts clearly together, give full explanations of how standing waves form with reference to phase changes, recognise symmetry in patterns, explain why gratings and double slits produce different results, and solve multi-step problems like finding a moving source's velocity.
Standards typically taken alongside or after this one. Same subject, grouped by level.