Question

You observe that 34 crests of a water wave pass you each minute. if the wavelength is 12 m, what is the speed of the wave?

Answer 1

6.8 m/s

Explanation:

We must calculate the frequency, knowing that per minute (60 seconds) there are 34 crests, therefore:

`f=(34)/(60)=0.57\text{ Hz}`

Therefore, the speed of the wave would be:

`\begin{gathered} s=f\cdot w \\ s\text{ =speed} \\ f=\text{ frequency = 0.57 Hz} \\ w\text{ = wavelength = 12 m} \end{gathered}`

Replacing:

`\begin{gathered} s=0.57\cdot12 \\ s=6.8\text{ m/s} \end{gathered}`

The speed of the wave is 6.8 m/s