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Calculate the frequency of a light wave with a wavelength of 593 x 10^-9 m. Express your answer in gigahertz (1 GHz = 1 billion Hz = 10^9 Hz).

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Final answer:

The frequency of a light wave with a wavelength of 593 x 10^-9 m is calculated using the formula f = c / λ, with the speed of light c being approximately 3 x 10^8 m/s. The frequency is found to be 5.0617 x 10^14 Hz, which is equivalent to 506.17 GHz when converted to gigahertz.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the frequency of a light wave with a wavelength of 593 x 10^-9 m, we can use the formula c = λ × f, where c is the speed of light in a vacuum (approximately 3 x 10^8 m/s), λ is the wavelength, and f is the frequency. We can rearrange this formula to solve for frequency:

f = c / λ

Substituting the given values:

f = (3 x 10^8 m/s) / (593 x 10^-9 m)

This results in:

f = 5.0617 x 10^14 Hz

To express this frequency in gigahertz (GHz), we divide by 109:

f = (5.0617 x 10^14 Hz)/(109 Hz/GHz)

f = 506.17 GHz