Question

4.

1. the gps, or global positioning system, uses waves from several different satellites to pinpoint a location on earth. to do this, a gps receiver must find the distance to at least four different satellites. although not mechanical, the waves from satellites are modeled using the same properties. the receiver uses the mathematical properties of these waves to determine each distance.

if the number of wave cycles is known, what other wave property is sufficient (is enough) to calculate the distance that the signal of the wave travelled from a given satellite to the receiver?
a) the wave length, by multiplying the wavelength by the number of wave cycles
b) the wave speed, by multiplying the wave speed by the number of wave cycles
c) the frequency, by multiplying the frequency by the number of wave cycles
d) the amplitude, by multiplying the amplitude by the number of wave cycles

Explanation:

Distance traveled by a wave is calculated as the total length of all its cycles. One wave cycle corresponds to one wavelength ($\lambda$), so total distance equals wavelength multiplied by the number of cycles. Wave speed relates to distance over time, frequency relates to cycles per second, and amplitude is wave height, none of these directly give total wave distance when multiplied by cycle count.

Answer:

a) the wave length, by multiplying the wavelength by the number of wave cycles