PhysicsLAB Practice Problems
Wave Fundamentals

Topics: On this worksheet you will deal with the fundamental definitions and equations of traveling waves.

Page Directions The numerical values in this worksheet are randomly generated allowing students the opportunity to conveniently practice, and drill, common situations.

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Question 1  A sound wave has a frequency of 373 Hz and travels in air at a speed of 343.6 m/sec. How far apart are any two adjacent wave compressions?
Question 2  A fisherman notices that wave crests pass the bow of his anchored boat every 5 seconds. He measures the distance between two wave crests to be 5.9 meters. How fast are the waves traveling?
Question 3  A wave has a speed of 210 m/sec and a wavelength of 5.9 meters. What is this wave's period?
Question 4  A sinusoidal wave travels along a string. The time for a particular point to move from maximum displacement to zero is 0.21 seconds. What is the wave's frequency?
Question 5  If the wavelength is 1.865 meters in Question 4, that how fast does the wave energy travel along the string?
Question 6  Light has a speed in a vacuum of 3 x 108 m/s. The frequency of visible light is about 6.64 x 1014 Hz. What is the approximate wavelength of the light?


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