Speed of Waves Calculation
How to calculate the speed of a wave?
Marc and Linh stretch out a long spring on the classroom floor. Marc holds one end of the spring still. Linh creates waves in the spring by moving the other end right and left with a frequency of 2 Hz. If wave crests are 0.5 m apart, what is the speed of the waves?
Calculation of Wave Speed
The speed of a wave can be calculated using the formula: Speed = Wavelength x Frequency.
In this scenario, Linh creates waves in the spring with a frequency of 2 Hz and wave crests that are 0.5 m apart. To calculate the speed of the waves, we can use the formula given:
Speed = Wavelength x Frequency
Given that the frequency is 2 Hz and the wavelength (wave crest distance) is 0.5 m, we can substitute these values into the formula:
Speed = 2 Hz × 0.5 m
Speed = 1 m/s
Therefore, the speed of the wave created by Linh in the spring with a frequency of 2 Hz is 1 m/s.