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Sine waves occur often in physics, including wind waves, sound waves, and light waves, such as monochromatic radiation. In engineering, signal processing, and mathematics, Fourier analysis decomposes general functions into a sum of sine waves of various frequencies, relative phases, and magnitudes. When any two sine waves of the same frequency ...
In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats. [1][2] In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase on the wave, such as two adjacent crests, troughs, or zero crossings.
Wave equation. The wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields such as mechanical waves (e.g. water waves, sound waves and seismic waves) or electromagnetic waves (including light waves). It arises in fields like acoustics, electromagnetism, and fluid dynamics.
The wave function of an initially very localized free particle. In quantum physics, a wave function (or wavefunction) is a mathematical description of the quantum state of an isolated quantum system. The most common symbols for a wave function are the Greek letters ψ and Ψ (lower-case and capital psi, respectively).
Frequency is an important parameter used in science and engineering to specify the rate of oscillatory and vibratory phenomena, such as mechanical vibrations, audio signals (sound), radio waves, and light. For example, if a heart beats at a frequency of 120 times per minute (2 hertz), the period—the interval between beats—is half a second ...
f = Δ N / Δ t {\displaystyle f=\Delta N/\Delta t\,\!} In practice N is set to 1 cycle and t = T = time period for 1 cycle, to obtain the more useful relation: f = 1 / T {\displaystyle f=1/T\,\!} Hz = s −1. [T] −1. Angular frequency / pulsatance. ω. ω = 2 π f = 2 π / T {\displaystyle \omega =2\pi f=2\pi /T\,\!}
The Doppler effect (also Doppler shift) is the change in the frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the source of the wave. [1][2][3] The Doppler effect is named after the physicist Christian Doppler, who described the phenomenon in 1842. A common example of Doppler shift is the change of pitch heard when a ...
In the physical sciences, the wavenumber (or wave number), also known as repetency, [1] is the spatial frequency of a wave, measured in cycles per unit distance (ordinary wavenumber) or radians per unit distance (angular wavenumber). [2][3][4] It is analogous to temporal frequency, which is defined as the number of wave cycles per unit time ...