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Astudent uses a ripple tank to calculate the wavelength of a water wave. The screen below the ripple tank is 100 cm long. They count 8 waves on the screen. What is the wavelength of a wave?

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Astudent uses a ripple tank to calculate the wavelength of a water wave.
The screen below the ripple tank is 100 cm long.
They count 8 waves on the screen.
What is the wavelength of a wave?

Astudent uses a ripple tank to calculate the wavelength of a water wave. The screen below the ripple tank is 100 cm long. They count 8 waves on the screen. What is the wavelength of a wave?

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RosalindMaster · Tutor for 5 years

Answer

Based on the formula \(\lambda = \frac{L}{n}\), substituting with the given values <br /><br />\(\lambda = \frac{100 \, cm}{8} = 12.5 \, cm\)<br /><br />Therefore, the wavelength of a wave is \(12.5 \, cm\).

Explain

## Step1: <br />In the problem given, we can draw the inference that the screen represents a "wave train", which is a series of waves grouped together. Here, an 8-wave train encompasses a length of 100 cm.<br /><br />## Step2:<br />The wavelength of a wave can be calculated by dividing the total length of the wave train by the number of waves it contains. This essentially finds the length of one single wave - the wavelength.<br /><br />### Formula to be used: \(\boldsymbol{\lambda = \frac{L}{n}}\)<br />Where, \\<br />\(\lambda\) = Wavelength \\<br />\(L\) = The length of the wave train\\<br />\(n\) = The number of waves<br /><br />## Step3: <br />Substitute the known values \(L = 100 \, cm\) and \(n = 8\) into the formula
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