Period and Frequency
Period and Frequency
Definition: Period
The period of a wave is the time taken by the wave to move one wavelength.
Definition: Frequency
The frequency of a wave is the number of wavelengths per second.
The period of a longitudinal wave is the time taken by the wave to move one wavelength. As for transverse waves, the symbol T is used to represent period and period is measured in seconds (\(\text{s}\)).
The frequency \(f\) of a wave is the number of wavelengths per second. Using this definition and the fact that the period is the time taken for \(\text{1}\) wavelength, we can define:
\[f = \frac{1}{T}\]
or alternately,
\[T = \frac{1}{f}\]
This lesson is part of:
Mechanical Waves and Sound
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