Question

math mini - lesson
pages 368 - 369 of your textbook show you how to calculate the speed and frequency of a wave. scientists often make calculations when they measure things, analyze data and explain events or observations.
use the formulas and the examples below to practice calculating speed and frequency.
the formula used to calculate the speed of a wave is:
speed = wavelength / period
here’s an example. suppose a buoy in the atlantic ocean near the florida coast is reporting a dominant wave period of 4 seconds and a wavelength of 40 meters. what is the speed of the wave?
based on the formula we need to know the wavelength and period of a wave to calculate its speed. read the example again and write the wavelength and period in the spaces below.
wavelength = ____________
period = ____________
now you can insert these numbers into the equation and calculate the wave’s speed.
speed = __________ = __________
now that you know the speed of the wave you can also calculate the frequency of the wave.
the formula used to calculate the frequency of a wave is:
frequency = speed / wavelength
calculate the frequency of the wave described above. insert the speed you calculated and the wavelength from the original problem into the formula.
frequency = __________ = __________
these same steps can be used to calculate the speed of the tsunami wave on page 369 of your textbook.

Explanation:

Step1: Identify wavelength and period

The problem states wavelength = 40 meters and period = 4 seconds.

Step2: Calculate wave - speed

Using the formula speed=$\frac{wavelength}{period}$, we substitute the values: speed = $\frac{40}{4}=10$ m/s.

Step3: Calculate wave - frequency

Using the formula frequency = $\frac{speed}{wavelength}$, and substituting speed = 10 m/s and wavelength = 40 meters, we get frequency=$\frac{10}{40}=0.25$ Hz.

Answer:

wavelength = 40 meters
period = 4 seconds
speed = $\frac{40}{4}$ = 10 m/s
Frequency = $\frac{10}{40}$ = 0.25 Hz