Waves & Sound Questions with Solutions

5 questions4 easy1 hard

This topic covers waves and their types (transverse and longitudinal), the properties of sound, the speed of sound in different media, echo, reverberation, the Doppler effect, pitch, loudness and the decibel scale, and infrasonic and ultrasonic sound and their uses. Questions often ask in which medium sound travels fastest (solids) and why it cannot travel through a vacuum, the human audible range (about 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz), the instrument used to detect underwater objects (SONAR), and the effect that explains the changing pitch of a passing train's horn (the Doppler effect). Practise the waves and sound questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

  1. Q1.

    Sound cannot travel through:

    A. AirB. WaterC. VacuumD. Steel
    easyAsked in SSC +2View solution ›
  2. Q2.

    The technique used by bats, dolphins and porpoises to locate objects by using reflected sound is called:

    A. ResonanceB. InterferenceC. RefractionD. Echolocation
    easyAsked in SSCView solution ›
  3. Q3.

    Sound waves with frequencies less than 20 Hz are called:

    A. Infrasonic wavesB. Ultrasonic wavesC. Audible wavesD. Supersonic waves
    easyAsked in SSCView solution ›
  4. Q4.

    The repetition of sound caused by the reflection of sound waves is known as:

    A. ReverberationB. ResonanceC. EchoD. Refraction
    easyAsked in SSCView solution ›