Question

A traveling periodic wave passes a point of observation. At this point, the time between successive crests is 0.2s. What can you say about this wave?

Answer 1

the distance between two wave fronts decreases since the waves travel slower that would be the answer.

Answer 2

The time between the successive crusts will give the time period of the wave.

So, the time period, T of the given wave is 0.2 s.

The frequency of a wave is the reciprocal of its time period. That is,

Frequency, ν =
`(1)/(T)`

=
`(1)/(0.2)`

= 5 Hz

Thus, the frequency of the given travelling periodic wave is 5 Hz.