If the frequency of a wave is doubled, what happens to its wavelength?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
If the frequency of a wave is doubled, what happens to its wavelength?
It doubles
It halves
It remains the same
It quadruples
The speed of a wave is given by the product of its frequency and wavelength (v = fλ). If the frequency is doubled, the wavelength must be halved to keep the speed constant.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: If the frequency of a wave is doubled, what happens to its wavelength?
Solution: The speed of a wave is given by the product of its frequency and wavelength (v = fλ). If the frequency is doubled, the wavelength must be halved to keep the speed constant.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand that a wave has two important properties: frequency (how many waves pass a point in a second) and wavelength (the distance between two consecutive waves).
Step 2: Know the formula that relates speed (v), frequency (f), and wavelength (λ): v = f × λ.
Step 3: Recognize that the speed of a wave in a given medium is constant.
Step 4: If the frequency of the wave is doubled, it means there are now twice as many waves passing a point in the same amount of time.
Step 5: To keep the speed of the wave the same while the frequency is doubled, the wavelength must decrease.
Step 6: Since the frequency is doubled, the wavelength must be halved to maintain the same speed.
