Question

A student investigates the four waves shown.



image.png



Using the information in the models, which wave has the highest frequency?


Wave 1


Wave 2


Wave 3


Wave 4

Answer 1

I can't see the picture you mentioned. Could you either upload the image or briefly describe each wave (for example: how many peaks or complete cycles appear across the same horizontal distance, or whether the plots are displacement vs time or vs position)?

How to tell yourself:
- If the plots are displacement vs position and all waves travel at the same speed, the wave with the shortest wavelength (most complete cycles per given horizontal distance) has the highest frequency (f = v/λ).
- If the plots are displacement vs time, the wave with the most oscillations in a fixed time interval has the highest frequency.
- Practically: pick the same horizontal interval on each graph and count complete cycles (or count peaks). The one with the largest count is the highest frequency.

If you upload the image or describe the cycles for Waves 1–4 I’ll pick which one is highest.