Asked by zoie

What can affect the speed of a wave?


angry teenagers


different types of mediums


lack of internet

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The correct choice is: different types of mediums.

Why: The speed of a wave is set by the properties of the medium it travels through (and by the wave type). Examples:
- Sound: speed depends on the medium’s elasticity and density — faster in solids than liquids than gases (approx. 343 m/s in air at 20 °C, higher in steel). For an ideal gas v = sqrt(γRT/M), so temperature matters.
- Waves on a string: v = sqrt(T/μ) where T is tension and μ is mass per unit length (so tension and mass density affect speed).
- Water waves: speed depends on depth and wavelength (shallow‑water vs deep‑water regimes).
- Electromagnetic waves: speed in a material is v = 1/√(εμ) (in vacuum v = c).

Note: frequency and wavelength are related by v = f·λ. In non-dispersive media v is independent of frequency; in dispersive media different frequencies travel at different speeds.

“Angry teenagers” and “lack of internet” are not physical factors that change wave speed (unless, jokingly, an angry teen screams louder and changes the wave amplitude — but that affects intensity, not the propagation speed).