What is frequency?

What is frequency?

• A. The rate at which a sound wave repeats in a second
• B. The speed of sound
• C. The distance between successive wavefronts
• D. The energy carried by the wave

Answer: (A)

Frequency is the number of times a repeating event occurs each second. It is measured in hertz. For a periodic wave, the time between successive crests is the period, and frequency is its reciprocal (f = 1/T). In sound, frequency sets the pitch: higher frequency sounds have higher pitch. This concept is different from speed of sound (how fast the wave travels), wavelength (distance between wavefronts), and energy carried by the wave (related to amplitude and intensity). For example, a tone at 440 Hz repeats 440 times per second, corresponding to the musical note A above middle C.

Frequency is the number of times a repeating event occurs each second. It is measured in hertz. For a periodic wave, the time between successive crests is the period, and frequency is its reciprocal (f = 1/T). In sound, frequency sets the pitch: higher frequency sounds have higher pitch. This concept is different from speed of sound (how fast the wave travels), wavelength (distance between wavefronts), and energy carried by the wave (related to amplitude and intensity). For example, a tone at 440 Hz repeats 440 times per second, corresponding to the musical note A above middle C.