What does the term 'Frequency' describe?

What does the term 'Frequency' describe?

• A. Number of times a wave moves through one set of high and low points in one second
• B. The energy of a wave
• C. The speed of a wave
• D. The distance between crest and trough

Answer: (A)

Frequency tells you how often a repeating event occurs per unit time. For a wave, it’s the number of complete cycles that pass a fixed point each second, usually measured in hertz. So if more crests come through each second, the frequency is higher. This concept is different from the energy of a wave (which depends on amplitude), the speed of a wave (how fast it travels through a medium), or the distance between crests and troughs (which relates to wavelength, not frequency).

Frequency tells you how often a repeating event occurs per unit time. For a wave, it’s the number of complete cycles that pass a fixed point each second, usually measured in hertz. So if more crests come through each second, the frequency is higher. This concept is different from the energy of a wave (which depends on amplitude), the speed of a wave (how fast it travels through a medium), or the distance between crests and troughs (which relates to wavelength, not frequency).