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HOW CAN WE
MEASURE
WAVES?
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WAVELENGTH is the distance
between wave crests or troughs.

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FREQUENCY is a measure of how many wave
crests or troughs pass a given point in one unit of
time, such as a second.

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The period of a wave is the amount of time it
takes for a wave to complete one full cycle.

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AMPLITUDE, the height of the wave from its
trough or crest to its midpoint, is a measure of
the wave’s intensity.

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FREQUENCY AND SPEED OF
WAVES

NOTE:
Frequency is measured in hertz
(Hz), the number of waves per
second.

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Waves from the boat cause the buoy to vibrate up and
down 4 times in 16 seconds.

Frequency = 4 / 16 seconds
Frequency of the vibrations is 0.25 Hz.

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SPEED describes how fast
something travels in a
specific amount of time.

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The distance a wave travels per second determines its speed.

EXAMPLE:
A boat passes within 65 meters of a buoy. The waves from the
boat take 5 seconds to reach the buoy.

The wave’s speed is 65 m ÷ 5 s = 13 m/s

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 REMEMBER:
The speed of a wave depends on its
medium, NOT its frequency.

A high frequency wave can travel slowly.

Likewise, a fast-moving wave can have a
low frequency.

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FACTORS THAT
AFFECT SPEED

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The speed of ocean waves is affected by the
depth of the water.

The deeper the water is, the faster the

wave travels.

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The speed of sound waves is affected by the
distance between particles.

Sound waves move fastest through solids,

slower through liquids, and slowest through
gases.

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 How we can
measure waves

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