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waves

Waves and energy – wave basics

Article

Waves and energy – wave basics

What is a wave? Most of us think of the waves we see at the beach. The waves come in ...

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Tsunamis and surf – introduction

Article

Tsunamis and surf – introduction

Tsunamis are unique in their destructive power, but they share many features with other ocean waves. Learn how the two ...

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Waves as energy transfer

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Waves as energy transfer

‘Wave’ is a common term for a number of different ways in which energy is transferred:

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Refraction of light

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Refraction of light

Refraction is the bending of light (it also happens with sound, water and other waves) as it passes from one ...

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Fundamentals of waves

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Fundamentals of waves

Seeing, hearing, feeling warmth, surfing, tuning the radio, using a cellphone – these and many more activities involve waves. But ...

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Sound – resonance

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Sound – resonance

A full-sized acoustic piano is able to play 88 distinct notes. When you press a key on the piano, a ...

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Sound on the move

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Sound on the move

Sound is a pressure wave, but this wave behaves slightly differently through air as compared to water. Water is denser ...

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A year on, we know why the Tongan eruption was so violent

Article

A year on, we know why the Tongan eruption was so violent

Explore the impact that the huge Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption in January 2022 has had on volcanologists theories on volcanoes. A multi-beam sonar mapping system was ...

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Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next

Article

Why the volcanic eruption in Tonga was so violent, and what to expect next

In January 2022 the world was shocked to hear of a sudden huge volcanic eruption close to Tonga, causing a tsunami and volcanic ash to cover ...

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Can you hear that?

Article

Can you hear that?

This article provides an overview of sound. It gives a brief summary of the following topics: characteristics of sound waves how the human ear works hearing ...

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Sound – beats, the Doppler effect and sonic booms

Article

Sound – beats, the Doppler effect and sonic booms

When two or more sound waves occupy the same space, they affect one another. This is known as sound wave interference. Sound waves combine by simple ...

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Sound – wave interference

Article

Sound – wave interference

Sound waves are longitudinal or compression waves that transmit sound energy from the source of the sound to an observer. Sound waves are typically drawn as ...

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Sound – visualising sound waves

Article

Sound – visualising sound waves

Sound is a form of energy that is caused by the vibration of matter. Sound is transmitted through waves, which travel through solids, liquids and gases. ...

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Sound – understanding standing waves

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Sound – understanding standing waves

A standing wave is the combination of two waves that are moving in opposite directions. Standing waves are typically formed in situations where a wave is ...

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KiwiNet Awards 2017

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KiwiNet Awards 2017

The Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) is a network of public research organisations who collaborate to commercialise science to grow the New Zealand economy. Commercialising science can ...

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Waves and energy – energy transfer

Article

Waves and energy – energy transfer

In a wave, the material on which the wave is travelling is moving. However, the material itself does not move along with the wave. The video ...

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Artificial sensors – question bank

Article

Artificial sensors – question bank

An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about monitoring our environment using artificial ...

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Super sense – an introduction to artificial sensors

Article

Super sense – an introduction to artificial sensors

Monitoring our world using artificial sensors Artificial sensors enable us to overcome the limitations of our human senses and extend them in novel and useful ways, ...

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The noisy reef – key terms

Article

The noisy reef – key terms

Travel under the waves to the reefs of New Zealand to explore sound and noise – what sound is, how it travels, what changes under water ...

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Melting and freezing

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Melting and freezing

Water can exist as a solid (ice), liquid (water) or gas (vapour or gas). Adding heat can cause ice (a solid) to melt to form water ...

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Water

Article

Water

Water seems to be everywhere in New Zealand. Oceans surround us. There are hundreds of lakes and rivers. Some South Island regions get more than 10 ...

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Observing water – introduction

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Observing water – introduction

Use these Material World resources for NZ Curriculum levels 1 and 2 to explore the characteristics of solids, liquids, gases and bubbles by observing water and ...

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Orange light helps thinking

Article

Orange light helps thinking

Who needs coffee in the morning when you can just shine an orange light in your eyes? A team of European scientists has shown that exposure ...

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GPS skew-whiff

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GPS skew-whiff

For more than a decade, major earthquakes around the world have been interfering with our Earth-bound global positioning system (GPS) sites. A 2013 study by Australian, ...

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How the eye focuses light

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How the eye focuses light

The human eye is a sense organ adapted to allow vision by reacting to light. The cornea and the crystalline lens are both important for the ...

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Diagram of 3 types of reflection, Mirror, Specular and Diffuse

Article

Reflection of light

Reflection is when light bounces off an object. If the surface is smooth and shiny, like glass, water or polished metal, the light will reflect at ...

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Alternative conceptions about light

Article

Alternative conceptions about light

This article introduces common student alternative conceptions about light based on education research. It is important that teachers are aware of these during a sequence of ...

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Colours of light

Article

Colours of light

Light is made up of wavelengths of light, and each wavelength is a particular colour. The colour we see is a result of which wavelengths are ...

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