Question

Which of the following is an acceptable description of the frequency of a transverse wave?

a. half the distance between the highest and lowest point
b. the distance between two consecutive compression
c. the number of complete cycles that occur in a second
d. the time required for consecutive highest points to pass a given point

Answer 1

You can spot the correct choice just by looking at their units.

Frequency has units of "per second".

a). and b). are distances, so that can't be it.

d). is time, so that can't be it.

c). is a number per second.
If there's a correct6 answer anywhere on this list,
then it has to be c).