‘A wave has a wavelength of 3 meters and frequency of 60 Hz What is the speed of the wave? Your answer: 0.05 mls 20 mls 63 mls 180 mls’
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
To calculate the speed of a wave, we can use the wave equation:v=f×λv = f \times \lambdav=f×λ
Where:
- vvv is the wave speed (in meters per second, m/s),
- fff is the frequency of the wave (in Hertz, Hz),
- λ\lambdaλ is the wavelength of the wave (in meters, m).
In this case:
- The wavelength λ\lambdaλ is given as 3 meters,
- The frequency fff is given as 60 Hz.
Now, plug the values into the equation:v=60 Hz×3 mv = 60 \, \text{Hz} \times 3 \, \text{m}v=60Hz×3mv=180 m/sv = 180 \, \text{m/s}v=180m/s
Thus, the speed of the wave is 180 m/s.
Explanation:
The speed of a wave is directly related to both its frequency and wavelength. The frequency indicates how many waves pass a point in one second, and the wavelength represents the distance between two consecutive points of the wave (such as crest to crest or trough to trough). By multiplying these two values, you get the speed at which the wave is traveling through the medium.
For the options you provided:
- 0.05 m/s is far too small,
- 20 m/s is also much lower than the correct value,
- 63 m/s doesn’t fit with the values we’ve calculated,
- 180 m/s is the correct answer, as shown by the calculation.
The speed of the wave is 180 meters per second, and that’s the answer we were looking for.
