Final answer:
Increasing the frequency of dipping your fingers into water results in shorter waves, as a higher frequency means more waves are generated per unit time, leading to a shorter wavelength. The amplitude of waves can change due to interference, and when the period of a wave increases, its frequency decreases.
Step-by-step explanation:
When repeatedly dipping your fingers into water to produce waves, increasing the frequency of dipping results in waves that are shorter. The term frequency refers to how often the waves are generated, and as frequency increases, the distance between successive crests, known as the wavelength, decreases. This is because waves are a repeating phenomenon characterized by a series of crests and troughs, and the wavelength is the horizontal length covered by one complete cycle of the wave. A higher frequency means that more cycles are happening per unit time, leading to a decrease in the length of each individual cycle, which translates to a shorter wavelength.
The amplitude, which is the height of the waves, may change due to constructive or destructive interference when multiple waves overlap. In the context of water waves made by dipping fingers, constructive interference might occur if the waves overlap in such a way that their crests and troughs align, potentially doubling the amplitude. Conversely, destructive interference occurs when the crests of one wave align with the troughs of another, cancelling each other out and reducing the amplitude.
Regarding the relationship between period and frequency, when the period of a wave, which is the time it takes to complete one cycle, increases, its frequency decreases. This is because frequency is the number of cycles per unit time, and if a cycle takes longer to complete, fewer cycles will occur in the same period.