Properties of Waves
By DarthVader
Date: 2022-05-30
Topic: 116 see comments
Post views: 1141
Properties of Waves
The properties of a wave can be described in the following terms:
- Wavelength, λ - (the greek letter lambda) - The distance between two consecutive peak values of the wave, measured in metres.
- Period, T - The time interval between to consecutive peak values of the wave, measured in seconds.
- Frequency, f - The reciprocal of the period, which can be thought of as the number of cycles per second and is measured in hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz = 1 s-1
- Amplitude, A - The maximum value of the varying quantity (y axis) (pressure, voltage, current, etc.), where the units will depend on the nature of the wave.
The period is related to the frequency by the equation:
period = 1 / frequency
or:
T = 1 / f
The wavelength and frequency are related by:
wavelength × frequency = speed
For electromagnetic radiation, this is written as:
λ × f = c
Where ‘c’ is the speed of light. This has the value 2.998 × 108 m s-1 (to 4 s.f).
Note that ‘c’ represents the speed of light in free space, which means light travelling through a vacuum. In most cases you can assume the same value for light travelling through air. The value of ‘c’ is often approximated to 3.00 × 108 m s-1
The energy, E (in joules), carried by a photon travelling in a wave is proportional to its frequency, f. It is given by:
E = h × f
Where ‘h’ is the quantity known as Planck's constant and is equal to 6.626 × 10-34 J s
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