You are at a pool party and notice that 2 waves pass by a floating ball in the 4 seconds in the distance between each wave crest is 2 meters what is the speed

Question

1 m/s
6m/s
2m/s
1.5m/s

Answer 1

To find the speed of the waves, we can use the formula for wave speed:

\[ \text{Speed} = \text{Wavelength} \times \text{Frequency} \]

1. Wavelength (distance between crests): The distance between each wave crest is 2 meters.
2. Frequency: Frequency is the number of waves that pass a point in one second. If 2 waves pass by in 4 seconds, the frequency is:

\[ \text{Frequency} = \frac{\text{Number of Waves}}{\text{Time}} = \frac{2 \text{ waves}}{4 \text{ seconds}} = 0.5 \text{ Hz} \]

3. Calculating Speed:
   • Wavelength = 2 meters
   • Frequency = 0.5 Hz

Now we can calculate the speed:

\[ \text{Speed} = \text{Wavelength} \times \text{Frequency} = 2 \text{ m} \times 0.5 \text{ Hz} = 1 \text{ m/s} \]

Thus, the speed of the waves is 1 m/s.