Flashcards
waves and frequency
Cards in this deck (4)
- 1—As waves travel, they set up patterns of disturbance. The amplitude of a wave is its maximum disturbance from its undisturbed position. Take care, the amplitude is not the distance between the top and bottom of a wave.
- 2—The wavelength of a wave is the distance between a point on one wave and the same point on the next wave. It is often easiest to measure this from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next wave, but it doesn't matter where as long as it is the same point in each wave.
- 3FrequencyThe frequency of a wave is the number of waves produced by a source each second. It is also the number of waves that pass a certain point each second. The unit of frequency is the hertz (Hz). It is common for kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz) and gigahertz (GHz) to be used when waves have very high frequencies.
- 4wave speedwave speed (metre per second) = frequency (hertz) × wavelength (metre)
For example, a wave with a frequency of 100Hz and a wavelength of 2m travels at 100 × 2 = 200m/s.
v is the wave speed in metres per second, m/s
f is the frequency in hertz, Hz
λ (lambda) is the wavelength in metres, m.
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- GCSE Science (physics) Flashcards on waves and frequency, created by s.ghillean on 25/02/2014.
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