Question

An ocean wave has a wavelength of 2 meters and a period of 5 seconds. what is the speed of the wave? 0.4 m/s 2.5 m/s 10 m/s 50 m/s

Answer 1

It takes the wave 5 seconds to traverse 2m. Divide 2 by 5, 0.4m/s

Answer 2

Answer:

0.4 m/s

Explanation:

The frequency of the wave is equal to the reciprocal of the period:

$f=\frac{1}{T}=\frac{1}{5s}=0.2 Hz$

For a wave, wavelength, speed and frequency are related by the following equation:

$v=f\lambda$

where

v is the speed of the wave

f is the frequency

$\lambda$ is the wavelength

For the water wave in this problem, $f=0.2 Hz$ and $\lambda=2 m$, so the speed of the wave is

$v=f\lambda=(0.2 Hz)(2 m)=0.4 m/s$