Question

Can someone explain to me how to answer this problem in simple ways? (I get really confused when it comes to math) A communications satellite transmits a radio wave at a frequency of 5 • 109 Hz. What is the signal’s wavelength? Assume the wave travels in a vacuum.

Answer 1

When I find a problem like this, I find it helpful to think about what I know and what equation will help me.

The question tells us the frequency of the wave
`(5 * 10^(-9))` Hz. We want to work out the wavelength. What equation links these two quantities?

Wave Speed = Frequency x Wavelength
(we know all electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light in a vacuum)


`(3 * 10^8) = (5 * 10^(-9)) * \lambda`
and then divide by
`(5 * 10^(-9))` to get the wavelength.

Wavelength =
`6 * 10^(16)` m