Wavelength and Frequency - Video Tutorials & Practice Problems
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Wavelength is the distance from one crest of a wave to another, whereas frequency is the number of waves within a second.
Wavelength and Frequency
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concept
Wavelength and Frequency
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Now light energy can travel through space as electromagnetic radiation in a form of either particles or waves. Now this is a highly debated topic within the scientific community. See some see light as individual particles, whereas others see light as a big wave filled with clusters of these particular particles. Now wavelength itself, we use the Greek symbol lambda and it's just the distance from one crest or top of a wave, or the trough the bottom of a wave to the next wave. Here it's expressed in units of meters, and with wavelength we have frequency. Frequency uses the Greek, there, letter which looks like a v. It's a number of waves you have per second. Here it's expressed in units of either seconds inverse or Hertz, so they're the same thing. Associated with wavelength and frequency, we have amplitude, which is just the height of a wave measured from the origin to its crest or from the origin to its trough. Now here if we take a look at this wave, we're gonna say that our origin here is 0. It kinda cuts through the wave right in the middle. We're gonna say the distance from one crest to another crest, or one trough to another trough, that represents our wavelength. We're gonna say the height from the origin up to the crest, or the origin to the trough represents our amplitudes. So amplitude here and amplitude here. And then finally, how many waves you get per second represents our frequency. Okay. So these are the 3 ideas attached to any electromagnetic wave that we observe. Now that we know these three topic, let's move on to the next video.
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example
Wavelength and Frequency Example 1
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Here in this example question, it says, based on the images given below, which electromagnetic wave has the highest frequency? Alright. So these waves look a bit different from one another. But remember that our frequency is how many waves we can get within a given amount of time. So here we can say in terms of a second. Now, if we were to say that all these lines represent the same amount of time that is elapsed, Let's just say that these, even though they're not drawn to scale, let's just say that they're all the same amount of time that's elapsed. The one that would give us the most amount of overall waves would represent the one with the greatest frequency. If we look at each of the options, 1, 2, and 3, we can see that option 3 is the best answer. It is the one that depicts most amount of waves within this set amount of time. Remember, the more waves you have for a given amount of time represents a higher frequency. So option 3 would give us the highest frequency shown.
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concept
Wavelength and Frequency
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So when it comes to frequency and wavelength, just realize that at a fixed speed, the frequency of a light wave is inversely proportional to the wavelength. That basically means that they're opposites of one another. So that means that the higher our frequency becomes, then the lower our wavelength. And the lower our frequency becomes, the higher our wavelengths. So just for keep in mind this inverse relationship between frequency and wavelength when it comes to any electromagnetic wave at a fixed speed.
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Problem
Problem
Which energy wave would have the highest frequency from the wavelengths provided?