Week 7 focuses on developing the skills to interpret wave-based systems across both physical and biological contexts, as tested in GAMSAT Section 3. You’ll explore how sound and light waves propagate, reflect, refract, and interact with biological systems such as the human ear and medical lenses. Through targeted exercises, students will analyze diagrams and data sets involving wave behavior, spatial geometry, and systems equilibrium—core GAMSAT mechanics repackaged by ACER into cognitively demanding formats.
This module teaches you how to graphically model reflection, refraction, and lens function, understand the principles underlying sound transmission in tissues, and apply foundational equations of wave motion to clinical and biological settings. As GAMSAT increasingly favours interdisciplinary logic and visual reasoning, mastering wave phenomena in real-world systems is essential for scoring highly.
💡 Key Topics:
Core physics of wave systems: frequency, velocity, wavelength
Graphing reflection, refraction, and optical pathways through convex/concave lenses
Systems equilibrium as applied to wave propagation and energy transfer
Translating wave mechanics into biological diagnostics (e.g., ultrasound, lenses)
ACER’s cognitive loading format in spatial and systemic wave-based stems
Systems equilibrium thinking in dynamic, multi-variable wave environments
Macro-analytic reasoning and prioritization of independent variables
Graphical interpretation of spatial systems
Advanced manipulation of physical equations
Scientific pattern recognition and hypothesis testing
ACER regularly tests wave phenomena through layered diagrams and data sets involving reflection, refraction, and biological systems. These stems demand not just content knowledge, but advanced spatial reasoning and variable tracking. Week 7 equips you with the tools to confidently interpret wave-based systems, a skillset increasingly featured in high-scoring GAMSAT responses.
