Asked by london

Which of the following affects the speed of a seismic wave?
A.
mineral phase
B.
amplitude
C.
wavelength
D.
energy

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
A. mineral phase

Seismic wave speed is set by the medium's elastic properties and density (e.g. vP = sqrt((K + 4/3 μ)/ρ), vS = sqrt(μ/ρ)), which change with mineral composition and phase. Amplitude or energy do not change the linear-wave speed, and wavelength only changes with frequency via v = f·λ; only in dispersive settings (e.g., some surface waves or layered media) does frequency/wavelength affect phase/group velocity.