The speed of sound in a certain metal block is 3.00 × 103 m/s. The graph shows the amplitude (in meters) of a wave traveling through the block versus time (in milliseconds). What is the wavelength of this wave?

Question

The speed of sound in a certain metal block is 3.00 × 103 m/s. The graph shows the amplitude (in meters) of a wave traveling through the block versus time (in milliseconds).  What is the wavelength of this wave?

anonymous · Answer

attachment

anonymous · Answer

Wavelength=Speed/Frequency = SpeedxPeriod=3000 (m/sec) x 0.002 (sec) = 6 m
In the drawing you can see a cycle is completed in 2 msec=0.002 sec

anonymous · Answer

how did you get 0.002?

anonymous · Answer

because the drawing has the time axis in milliseconds (ms), to convert to seconds you have to divide by 1000. And 2/1000=0.002

anonymous · Answer

I see, but how did you get 2 from the graph?

anonymous · Answer

In the graph there is a wave. Waves are periodic functions, say that take the same values after a certain period of time called "period of the wave". If you look at the chart will see that what happens between 0 and 2 ms happens again between 2 ms and 4 ms. The 2 ms do not appear but look how a quarter of the wave takes 0.5 ms

anonymous · Answer

got it now?

anonymous · Answer

Another way is calculating the time difference between two crests of the wave:2.5-0.5=2 and 4.5-2.5=2, that is the period

anonymous · Answer

oh I got it! Great explanation THANK YOU!

anonymous · Answer

welcome!