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All 12 Flashcards — The travelling wave and the wave equation
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Question
What is a wave?
Answer
A disturbance that carries **energy** from place to place **without** the medium itself travelling along with it.
Question
Define wavelength (λ).
Answer
The length of **one full wave** (e.g. crest to crest). Read it off a displacement-**distance** graph. Unit: metre (m).
Question
Define amplitude (A).
Answer
The **maximum displacement** from the middle (rest) position — NOT crest to trough. Unit: metre (m).
Question
Define period (T).
Answer
The **time for one full wave** to pass a point. Read it off a displacement-**time** graph. Unit: second (s).
Question
Define frequency (f).
Answer
The **number of waves per second**. Unit: hertz (Hz), where 1 Hz = 1 per second.
Question
Write the wave equation.
Answer
$v = f\lambda$ — speed = frequency × wavelength. **Given** in the data booklet.
Question
How are frequency and period linked?
Answer
They are reciprocals: **f = 1/T** (and T = 1/f). Both are **given** in the data booklet.
Question
Write the wave equation using the period instead of frequency.
Answer
$v = \dfrac{\lambda}{T}$ — since f = 1/T, speed = wavelength ÷ period.
Question
Which graph gives the wavelength, and which gives the period?
Answer
Wavelength from a displacement-**distance** graph; period from a displacement-**time** graph. Always check the axis label.
Question
A wave has f = 200 Hz and λ = 1.7 m. Speed?
Answer
v = f λ = 200 × 1.7 = 340 m s⁻¹.
Question
A wave has λ = 0.50 m and T = 2.0 × 10⁻³ s. Speed?
Answer
v = λ ÷ T = 0.50 ÷ 0.0020 = 250 m s⁻¹.
Question
Most common wave-equation mistake?
Answer
Reading the wavelength off a **time** graph (or the period off a **distance** graph) — and forgetting to convert ms or kHz before substituting.
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Full study notes for The travelling wave and the wave equation
Topic 3.2 hub
Wave model
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