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Wavelength, Frequency & Period

All waves are described by a set of basic parameters.

Wavelength:
Defined as the separation between two wave crests.
Measured using many different linear units: kilometers (km), centimeters
(cm), microns (), nanometers (nm), etc.
Usually expressed using the Greek letter

Frequency:
Defined as the number of waves which pass an observers location in a
specific time interval.
Measured in cycles per unit time, most commonly cycles per second.
Usually expressed using the Greek letter
1 cycle per second = 1 Hertz, abbreviated Hz
103 Hz = 1 KHz = one kilohertz (AM radio frequencies)
106 Hz = 1 MHz = one megahertz (FM radio frequencies)

Period:
Defined as the time it takes to complete one wave cycle. Period is the
inverse of the frequency.
Usually expressed using the English letter p
Period = 1 divided by the frequency (1 p)
Frequency = 1 divided by the period (1 )

Amplitude:
Defined as the strength or height of a wave.
Measured in linear units (meters) for a sound or ocean wave. For EM waves,
amplitude is often expressed in units of energy per time.

Speed:
The speed of a wave = the wavelength times the frequency
v =
All electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed, 300,000 km per sec.

How are energy, frequency, and wavelength


related?
Electromagnetic waves can be described by their wavelengths,
energy, and frequency. All three of these things describe a
different property of light, yet they are related to each other
mathematically. This means that it is correct to talk about the
energy of an X-ray or the wavelength of a microwave or the
frequency of a radio wave.

In fact, X-rays and gamma-rays are usually described in terms of


energy, optical and infrared light in terms of wavelength, and
radio in terms of frequency. This is a scientific convention
that allows the use of the units that are the most convenient
for describing whatever energy of light you are looking at.
After all - there is a huge difference in energy between radio
waves and gamma-rays. Here's an example. Electron-volts, or eV,
are a unit of energy often used to describe light in astronomy.
A radio wave can have an energy of around 4 x 10-10 eV - a gamma-
ray can have an energy of 4 x 109 eV. That's an energy
difference of 1019 (or ten million trillion) eV!

We already know that when we talk about wavelength, we are


talking about the distance between two peaks of a wave.
Wavelength is usually measured in meters (m). Frequency is the
number of cycles of a wave to pass some point in a second. The
units of frequency are thus cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).
Radio stations have frequencies. They are usually equal to the
station number times 1,000,000 Hz. For instance, - the local
Washington, DC station HFS has a frequency of 99.1 million Hz in
the FM radio band.

Do you know what a centimeter (cm) is? Or a kilogram (kg)?


"Centi" and "kilo" are prefixes used to designate a certain
number. "Centi" is one hundreth, and "kilo" is one thousand, so
a centimeter is one hundreth of a meter. A kilogram is 1000
grams. In science, it is inconvenient to talk about very large
or very small numbers so scientists abbreviate them. "Nano", (or
"n" for short) means one billionth or 10-9. Wavelengths of
optical light have units of nanometers (nm). One nm is equal to
one billionth of a meter. "Micro" (abbreviated by the Greek
letter mu or ) is one millionth or 10-6. A micrometer, or one
thousandth of a meter is sometimes called a "micron". "Milli"
(m) is one thousandth or 10-3. "Centi" (c) is one hundreth or 10-
2
. "Kilo" is one thousand or 103. "Mega" (M) is one million or
106. The frequency of HFS is 99.1 MHz - that is 99.1 Megahertz.
One billion is "giga" (G) or 109.

We already know that light acts like a wave, but did you know
that sometimes it acts like a particle? We call particles of
light photons. Low-energy photons, like radio photons, tend to
behave more like waves, while higher energy photons (i.e. X-
rays) behave more like particles. That's another reason that we
don't talk about X-ray waves very often. Instead we talk about
individual X-rays and their energies.

Electromagnetic Waves have different


wavelengths

When you listen to the radio,


watch TV, or cook dinner in a
microwave oven, you are using
electromagnetic waves.

Radio waves, television


waves, and microwaves are all
types of electromagnetic
waves. They differ from each
other in wavelength.
Wavelength is the distance
between one wave crest to the
next.
Waves in the electromagnetic spectrum vary in size from very long radio
waves the size of buildings, to very short gamma-rays smaller than the
size of the nucleus of an atom.

Did you know that electromagnetic waves can not only be described by
their wavelength, but also by their energy and frequency? All three of
these things are related to each other mathematically. This means that
it is correct to talk about the energy of an X-ray or the wavelength of
a microwave or the frequency of a radio wave. The electromagnetic
spectrum includes, from longest wavelength to shortest: radio waves,
microwaves, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma-rays.

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