3/1/2017 FrequencyandPeriodofaWave

FrequencyandPeriodofaWave
TheAnatomyofaWave
FrequencyandPeriodofaWave
EnergyTransportandtheAmplitudeofaWave
TheSpeedofaWave
TheWaveEquation

ThenatureofawavewasdiscussedinLesson1ofthisunit.Inthatlesson,itwasmentionedthata
waveiscreatedinaslinkybytheperiodicandrepeatingvibrationofthefirstcoiloftheslinky.This
vibrationcreatesadisturbancethatmovesthroughtheslinkyandtransportsenergyfromthefirstcoilto
thelastcoil.Asinglebackandforthvibrationofthefirstcoilofaslinkyintroducesapulseintothe
slinky.Buttheactofcontinuallyvibratingthefirstcoilwithabackandforthmotioninperiodicfashion
introducesawaveintotheslinky.
Supposethatahandholdingthefirstcoilofaslinkyismovedbackandforthtwocompletecyclesinone
second.Therateofthehand'smotionwouldbe2cycles/second.Thefirstcoil,beingattachedtothe
hand,inturnwouldvibrateatarateof2cycles/second.Thesecondcoil,beingattachedtothefirstcoil,
wouldvibrateatarateof2cycles/second.Thethirdcoil,beingattachedtothe
secondcoil,wouldvibrateatarateof2cycles/second.Infact,everycoilofthe
slinkywouldvibrateatthisrateof2cycles/second.Thisrateof2cycles/second
isreferredtoasthefrequencyofthewave.Thefrequencyofawaverefersto
howoftentheparticlesofthemediumvibratewhenawavepassesthroughthe
medium.Frequencyisapartofourcommon,everydaylanguage.Forexample,itisnotuncommonto
hearaquestionlike"How frequently
doyoumowthelawnduringthesummermonths?"Ofcoursethe
questionisaninquiryabout howoften
thelawnismowedandtheanswerisusuallygivenintheformof
"1timeperweek."Inmathematicalterms,thefrequencyisthenumberofcompletevibrationalcyclesof
amediumperagivenamountoftime.Giventhisdefinition,itisreasonablethatthe
quantity frequency
wouldhaveunitsofcycles/second,waves/second,vibrations/second,or
something/second.AnotherunitforfrequencyistheHertz(abbreviatedHz)where1Hzisequivalentto
1cycle/second.Ifacoilofslinkymakes2vibrationalcyclesinonesecond,thenthefrequencyis2Hz.If
acoilofslinkymakes3vibrationalcyclesinonesecond,thenthefrequencyis3Hz.Andifacoilmakes
8vibrationalcyclesin4seconds,thenthefrequencyis2Hz(8cycles/4s=2cycles/s).
Thequantityfrequencyisoftenconfusedwiththequantityperiod.Periodreferstothetimethatittakes
todosomething.Whenaneventoccursrepeatedly,thenwesaythattheeventisperiodicandreferto
thetimefortheeventtorepeatitselfastheperiod.Theperiodofawaveisthetimeforaparticleona
mediumtomakeonecompletevibrationalcycle.Period,beingatime,ismeasuredinunitsoftimesuch
asseconds,hours,daysoryears.TheperiodoforbitfortheEartharoundtheSunisapproximately365
daysittakes365daysfortheEarthtocompleteacycle.Theperiodofatypicalclassatahighschool
mightbe55minutesevery55minutesaclasscyclebegins(50minutesforclassand5minutesfor
passingtimemeansthataclassbeginsevery55minutes).Theperiodfortheminutehandonaclockis
3600seconds(60minutes)ittakestheminutehand3600secondstocompleteonecyclearoundthe
clock.
Frequencyandperiodaredistinctlydifferent,yetrelated,quantities.Frequencyreferstohowoften
somethinghappens.Periodreferstothetimeittakessomethingtohappen.Frequencyisarate
quantity.Periodisatimequantity.Frequencyisthecycles/second.Periodistheseconds/cycle.Asan
exampleofthedistinctionandtherelatednessoffrequencyandperiod,considerawoodpeckerthat
drumsuponatreeataperiodicrate.Ifthewoodpeckerdrumsuponatree2timesinonesecond,then
thefrequencyis2Hz.Eachdrummustendureforonehalfasecond,sotheperiodis0.5s.Ifthe
woodpeckerdrumsuponatree4timesinonesecond,thenthefrequencyis4Hzeachdrummust
endureforonefourthasecond,sotheperiodis0.25s.Ifthewoodpeckerdrumsuponatree5timesin
onesecond,thenthefrequencyis5Hzeachdrummustendureforonefifthasecond,sotheperiodis
0.2s.Doyouobservetherelationship?Mathematically,theperiodisthereciprocalofthefrequencyand
viceversa.Inequationform,thisisexpressedasfollows.

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3/1/2017 FrequencyandPeriodofaWave

SincethesymbolfisusedforfrequencyandthesymbolTisusedforperiod,theseequationsarealso
expressedas:

Thequantityfrequencyisalsoconfusedwiththequantityspeed.Thespeedofan
objectreferstohowfastanobjectismovingandisusuallyexpressedasthe
distancetraveledpertimeoftravel.Forawave,thespeedisthedistancetraveled
byagivenpointonthewave(suchasacrest)inagivenperiodoftime.Sowhile
wavefrequencyreferstothenumberofcyclesoccurringpersecond,wavespeed
referstothemeterstraveledpersecond.Awavecanvibratebackandforthvery
frequently,yethaveasmallspeedandawavecanvibratebackandforthwithalowfrequency,yet
haveahighspeed.Frequencyandspeedaredistinctlydifferentquantities.Wavespeedwillbediscussed
inmoredetaillaterinthislesson.

Investigate!

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