Physics Lab: Waves on a String

Introduction

Waves are a familiar part of everyday life. You have probably seen water waves and waves on a string. You hear sound waves and see light waves.

Waves have a wavelength, λ, a frequency, f, and a speed, v. These three quantities are related by:

v = fλ

In this lab you will look at a simulated wave on a string – a transverse wave. You will set the frequency of the wave and then measure the wavelength and speed. We will use these to try to answer the question: “Does wave speed really equal frequency times wavelength?”.