Wavelength and Frequency

Under Construction By Allie Johnson

Wavelength and Frequency are used to describe a sinusoidal electromagnetic wave. Frequency is the number of peaks per second that pass a given location. Wavelength is the distance between two peaks.

The Main Idea

The frequency of a sinusoidal electromagnetic wave is also the inverse of the period. When that wave is plotted over time, a period will be the distance between two peaks. Frequency is measured in inverse seconds or hertz (Hz). Wavelength is the distance between two peaks of a sinusoidal electromagnetic wave when plotted over a direction.

Example of a Wavelength measurement on a simple sine wave

Wavelength is directly proportional to frequency. Wavelength is the speed of light divided by the frequency. Therefore, as frequency increases wavelength decreases. This is because over a specific amount of time, the wave will move at the speed of light. Electromagnetic radiation is categorized by its wavelength, spanning from gamma rays to radio waves.

Types of Electromagnetic Radiation Characterized by Wavelength

A Mathematical Model

[math]\displaystyle{ f = \frac{1}{T} }[/math] where F is the frequency and T is the period.

[math]\displaystyle{ f = \frac{c}{\lambda} }[/math] where F is the frequency, c is the speed of light constant (c = 2.998×108 m s−1), and lambda is the wavelength.

Frequency can we described by angular frequency with the following model.

[math]\displaystyle{ \omega = {{2 \pi} \over T} = {2 \pi f} , }[/math] where ω is the angular frequency or angular speed (radians per second),T is the frequency over period (measured in seconds), and f is the ordinary frequency (measured in hertz).

A Computational Model

How do we visualize or predict using this topic. Consider embedding some vpython code here Teach hands-on with GlowScript

Examples

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Connectedness

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History

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See also

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Further reading

Chabay, Ruth W., and Bruce A. Sherwood. Matter & Interactions. 3rd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print

External links

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJW_a6JeXD8

References

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