Final answer:
Increasing the tension of a spring affects a wave on the spring by increasing the wave speed and decreasing the wavelength.
Step-by-step explanation:
Increasing the tension of a spring affects a wave on the spring by increasing the wave speed. According to the wave speed equation, the wave speed is directly proportional to the square root of the tension in the string. Therefore, when the tension of the spring is increased, the wave speed increases as well.
For example, if you pluck a guitar string tightly (increasing the tension), the wave speed of the resulting sound wave on the string will be faster compared to when the string is less tense.
This increase in wave speed affects other properties of the wave, such as frequency and wavelength. The frequency of the wave remains the same, but the wavelength decreases. This means that the distance between successive peaks or troughs in the wave becomes shorter when the tension is increased.