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Physics - Waves and Sound

Practise 30 BITSAT previous year questions on Waves and Sound, compiled from papers spanning 2009 to 2024. Each question is pulled directly from the actual exam paper it appeared in, so you're practising in the exact style and difficulty BITSAT tests.

Waves and Sound has been asked in 16 of the 16 years of BITSAT papers analysed (2009–2024), with 30 questions in all. 20% of them were easy, 70% moderate and 10% tough. Most of its questions came from 2022, with 3 questions that year. In the last three years (2022–2024) it had 7 questions across 5 papers, about 1.4 per paper.

The chapter's 9 topics are not weighted equally: Doppler's Effect (9 questions, 30%), Speed of Sound Waves (5 questions, 17%), and Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column) (4 questions, 13%) have been asked the most. Over the last five years the most frequent topics have been Speed of Sound Waves (5), Doppler's Effect (2), and Basics of Mechanical Waves (1). Speed of Sound Waves has produced the most tough questions (1).

  1. 1A plane progressive wave is given by . The frequency of the wave is:2024 (Memory Based Paper 1)Travelling Waves
  2. 2The speed of sound in oxygen at S.T.P. will be approximately: (Given,2024 (Memory Based Paper 2)Speed of Sound Waves
  3. 3The ratio of speed of sound in hydrogen gas to the speed of sound in oxygen gas at the same temperature is:2023 (Memory Based Paper 1)Speed of Sound Waves
  4. 4The engine of a train moving with speed towards a platform sounds a whistle at frequency . The frequency heard by a passenger inside the tra2023 (Memory Based Paper 2)Doppler’s Effect
  5. 5A submarine travelling at is being chased along the line of its velocity by another submarine travelling at . B sends a sonar signal of to d2022Speed of Sound Waves
  6. 6Transverse waves of the same frequency are generated in two steel wires and . The diameter of is twice that of and the tension in is half th2022Speed of Sound Waves
  7. 7A direct current of is superimposed on an alternating current flowing through a wire. The effective value of the resulting current will be2022Basics of Mechanical Waves
  8. 8The frequency of whistle of an engine appears to be of initial frequency when it crosses a stationary observer. If the velocity of sound is 2021Doppler's Effect
  9. 9The displacement y of a particle in a medium can be expressed as, where is in second and in meter. The speed of the wave is2021Speed of Sound Waves
  10. 10An organ pipe, open from both end produces 5 beats per second when vibrated with a source of frequency . The second harmonic of the same pip2020Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  11. 11A whistle of frequency is sounded on a car travelling towards a cliff with velocity of 18 normal to the cliff. If , then the apparent freque2020Doppler's Effect
  12. 12Two sources of sound A and B are moving towards and away from a stationary observer with the same speed respectively. If the frequency of th2019Doppler's Effect
  13. 13If sound travels in air with the speed of 340 m s - 1 , then the number of tones present in an open organ pipe of length 2 m for a maximum f2019Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  14. 14A train moves towards a stationary observer with speed 34 m s - 1 . The train blows whistle and its frequency is registered by the observer 2018Doppler's Effect
  15. 15A whistle of frequency 500 Hz tied to the end of a string of length 1 . 2 m revolves at 400 rev min - 1 . A listener standing some distance 2017Doppler's Effect
  16. 16A transverse wave propagating on a stretched string of linear density 3 10 - 4 kgm - 1 is represented by the equation y = 0 . 2 sin ( 1 . 5 2017Travelling Waves
  17. 17A string of length is fixed at both ends. It is vibrating in its overtone with maximum amplitude'a'. The amplitude at a distance from one en2016Vibration of String
  18. 18A source of sound S emitting waves of frequency and an observor are located at some distance from each other. The source is moving with a sp2016Doppler's Effect
  19. 19Two tuning forks with natural frequencies 340 Hz each move relative to a stationary observer. One fork moves away from the observer, while t2015Beats
  20. 20The frequency of a sonometer wire is . When the weights producing the tensions are completely immersed in water, the frequency becomes and o2015Vibration of String
  21. 21A sound source, emitting sound of constant frequency, moves with a constant speed and crosses a stationary observer. The frequency (n) of so2014Doppler's Effect
  22. 22When a string is divided into three segments of length and , the fundamental frequencies of these three segments are and respectively. The o2014Vibration of String
  23. 23Two waves of wavelengths and both travelling with velocity are made to interfere. The number of beats produced by them per second is2013Beats
  24. 24If equation of transverse wave is Maximum velocity of particle is twice of wave velocity, if is-2013Travelling Waves
  25. 25The transverse displacement of a wave on a string is given by xt This represents a2012Travelling Waves
  26. 26A sound souorce is moving towards stationary listener with th of the speed of sound. The ratio of apparent to read frequency is2012Doppler's Effect
  27. 27The fundamental frequency of an open organ pipe is . The first overtone of this pipe has same frequency as first overtone of a closed organ 2011Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)
  28. 28A wave on a string meets with another wave producing a node at Then the equation of the unknown wave is2010Stationary waves
  29. 29A source of sound produces waves of wavelength when it is stationary. If the speed of sound in air is and source moves with speed the wavele2010Doppler's Effect
  30. 30Two tuning forks and sounded together give 6 beats per second. With an air resonance tube closed at one end, the two forks give resonance wh2009Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column)

Frequently Asked Questions

1.How many questions are available for Waves and Sound?

This chapter includes 30 questions compiled from BITSAT papers spanning 2009 to 2024.

2.Are these questions only from BITSAT, or from other exams too?

These are BITSAT questions specifically for the Waves and Sound chapter. Questions from other exams like JEE Main or NTA Abhyas (JEE Main) are organised separately under their respective exam sections.

3.Is Waves and Sound an important chapter for BITSAT Physics?

Waves and Sound has appeared in 16 of the 16 years of BITSAT papers covered here, with 30 questions across 18 papers - about 2 per paper it appears in.

4.What is the difficulty level of Waves and Sound questions in BITSAT?

Of the 30 questions analysed for this chapter, 20% are easy, 70% moderate and 10% tough. 2022 had the most, with 3 questions.

5.Which topics in Waves and Sound should I focus on?

These topics have carried the most weightage in Waves and Sound:

  • Doppler's Effect - 9 questions (30%)
  • Speed of Sound Waves - 5 questions (17%)
  • Organ Pipe (Vibration of Air Column) - 4 questions (13%)
  • Speed of Sound Waves has produced the most tough questions (1).
6.Is Waves and Sound's weightage in BITSAT going up or down?

Across all 18 papers analysed, Waves and Sound has averaged about 1.7 questions per paper. In the last three years (2022–2024), that average has fallen, at about 1.4 questions per paper. Use the year-wise numbers on this page for the exact trend before you decide how much time to give it.