Practice question · Multiple choice
A wave travels along a rope. You shake the end twice as fast (double the frequency) without changing the rope or its tension. What happens to the wavelength?
Hints
- Wave speed on a string is set by tension and mass density: . Your hand cannot change it.
- With locked, and must trade off against each other.
Show the answer
B. It halves: the speed is fixed by the rope
Why
The medium dictates ; the source dictates . The wavelength is the negotiated result: . Doubling the frequency squeezes the same-speed wave into crests half as far apart, a rule that holds for sound, light and water alike.
Practise Wave Properties and the Wave Equation
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More questions on Wave Properties and the Wave Equation
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