Waves

All Lessons

NYSSLS Reading Passages: Waves

Waves How Doppler Radar Decodes the Sky
A Doppler radar dome sends a microwave pulse toward a rainstorm; the echo returns with a shifted frequency that reveals the storm's wind speed and direction
Inside the rotating dome that spots a tornado before it touches down — how a shift in the frequency of a returning microwave pulse reveals a storm's wind speed and direction, not just where the rain is falling. Open Reading Passage
Waves Sound Waves & Active Noise Cancellation
Superposition of sound waves: two in-phase waves add up to a wave twice as tall (louder), while a jet-engine noise wave plus its inverted anti-noise wave add up to a flat line (silence)
How can adding more sound to a noisy airplane cabin make it quieter? A close look at superposition, phase, and the inverted sound wave that flattens the constant drone of a jet engine into near silence. Open Reading Passage
Waves Lost and Found: How GPS Satellites Know Exactly Where You Are
A GPS satellite broadcasts its position and the exact time; the microwave signal travels at the speed of light to a phone, and the travel time multiplied by c gives the distance
How does a little blue dot find you on a back road with no signs? Falling clocks 20,200 km overhead, microwaves racing at the speed of light, and four overlapping spheres turn time into distance — plus why tall buildings make the dot wander. Open Reading Passage