Question

A group of blood-thirsty pirates tie you to the end of a pier. You notice that the crest of a wave hits you every 2 seconds. The wavelength between crests is 10 m. What is the speed of the wave?

Answer 1

The speed of the wave can be calculated using the formula wave speed = wavelength / period. Given a wavelength of 10 m and a period of 2 s, the wave's speed is 5 m/s.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the speed of the wave, we use the formula for wave speed, which is wave speed = wavelength / period. The period is the time it takes for two successive crests to pass a fixed point, which is given as 2 seconds. The wavelength, which is the distance between two successive crests, is given as 10 meters.

The calculation is as follows:

1. Identify the given values: wavelength (λ) = 10 m and period (T) = 2 s.
2. Use the formula for wave speed: speed (v) = wavelength / period.
3. Substitute the known values into the formula: speed = 10 m / 2 s = 5 m/s.

Therefore, the speed of the wave is 5 meters per second (m/s).