MDCAT Physics — Waves
Waves is a core Physics topic in the PMDC MDCAT syllabus, covering 20 subtopics. Below are the subtopics to revise, how often the topic appears in past papers, and real past-paper MCQs to try.
Subtopics (20)
- Beats
- Characteristics of Waves
- Compton effect
- Diffraction Grating
- Doppler Effect
- Interference (Newton's Rings, Thin Films)
- Interference of Sound Waves
- Motion of Wave
- Organ Pipes
- Oscillations & Waves
- Pendulum
- Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
- Speed of Sound (Newton's Formula)
- Stationary Waves
- Superposition of Waves
- Transverse vs Longitudinal Waves
- Types
- Wave Speed
- Waves & Sound
- Young's Double Slit Experiment
How Waves is tested
Across the 16 MDCAT past papers on ParhaiKrlo, Waves accounts for 90 questions. It appears in all 16, about 5.6 questions a paper. The heaviest was MDCAT 2013, with 9 questions, and the most recent is MDCAT 2025, with 2.
| Paper | Questions |
|---|---|
| MDCAT 2025 | 2 |
| MDCAT 2024 | 7 |
| MDCAT 2023 | 5 |
| MDCAT 2022 | 5 |
| MDCAT 2019 | 8 |
| MDCAT 2018 | 4 |
| MDCAT 2017 | 4 |
| MDCAT 2016 | 5 |
| MDCAT 2015 | 4 |
| MDCAT 2014 | 4 |
| MDCAT 2013 | 9 |
| MDCAT 2012 | 8 |
| MDCAT 2011 | 5 |
| MDCAT 2010 | 6 |
| MDCAT 2009 | 7 |
| MDCAT 2008 | 7 |
Waves MCQs from the MDCAT past papers
Try each one before opening the answer. Each comes with a short explanation.
- Q1 · MDCAT 2025 · Waves
Mechanical waves cannot travel through outer space because they:
- A.Have low speed in vacuum
- B.Disperse in space due to long wavelength
- C.Lose frequency in the absence of air
- D.Lose transmission without interacting particles
Show answer
Answer: D. Lose transmission without interacting particles — Mechanical waves need a material medium to transmit energy via particle interactions, which is absent in the vacuum of space.
- Q2 · MDCAT 2024 · Waves
Which one of the following is INCORRECT about the nodes when the string is plucked;
- A.Amplitude of vibration is zero
- B.Do not move along the string
- C.Produced at the fixed ends of strings
- D.Distance between consecutive nodes is 1 wavelength
Show answer
Answer: D. Distance between consecutive nodes is 1 wavelength — It's INCORRECT to say the distance between consecutive nodes is one full wavelength — it's actually half a wavelength.
- Q3 · MDCAT 2023 · Waves
The speed of sound in an ideal gas depends upon:
- A.Temperature and amplitude
- B.Frequency and fog
- C.Temperature and density
- D.Density and amplitude
Show answer
Answer: C. Temperature and density — The speed of sound in an ideal gas depends on the gas's temperature and its density (via the relationship between pressure, density, and the adiabatic constant).