James Grad, Dean Kieserman

Science 8-2
1/7/12

Frequency and Amplitude in Mechanical Waves

1. Purpose:
Research Question: If the frequency of a transverse wave is changed, does wavelength,
wave speed, or both wavelength and wave speed change? How do changes in amplitude
affect wavelength and wave speed?
Variables: (for experiment I)
Independent Variable: The frequency of each mechanical wave.
Dependent Variable: The wave speed and wavelength of each mechanical wave.
Variables: (for experiment II)
Independent Variable: The amplitude of each mechanical wave.
Dependent Variable: The wave speed and wavelength of each mechanical wave.

2. Hypothesis:
If the frequency of a transverse wave is increased, the wavelength will decrease and wave
speed will remain constant. If the amplitude of a transverse wave is increased, neither
wavelength nor wave speed will change.

3. Procedure:
Materials:
1 long spring
1 stopwatch
1 meter stick

Procedure:
1. Hold down one end of the long spring to the ground, and leave the other end loose.
2. Measure the time it takes to shake the long spring from side to side at a somewhat fast
rate ten times, using the loose end. Repeat this two more times. This side to side
distance should be 20 centimeters (amplitude = 10 centimeters.)
3. Measure the displacement of the long spring from the taped to free end.
4. Measure the time it takes for a single wave crest to travel from one end of the long
spring to the other, three times.
5. Use the measurements from steps 2-4 to calculate wavelength, frequency and wave
speed.
6. Repeat steps 2-5, except increase the amount of times the long spring is shaken in the
time given in step 2 (try to double the amount of times the long spring is shaken.)
7. Repeat steps 2-5, except further increase (from step 6.) the amount of times the long
spring is shaken in the time given in step 2 (try to triple the amount of times the long
spring is shaken.)
8. Repeat step 2., attempting to measure the same amount of waves, except increase
amplitude to 20 centimeters.
9. Repeat step 2., attempting measure the same amount of waves, except increase
amplitude to 30 centimeters.

4. Data Tables:
Affect of Frequency on Wavelength and Wave Speed (Experiment I)
Frequency (Hz)
Time for crest to travel length of
Wavelength (m)
(Over the time of 10 seconds)
spring (seconds)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Average
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

Wave Speed
(m/s)

Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3

11Hz
18Hz
34Hz

10Hz
17Hz
34Hz

Amplitude
Trial 1 (same as

9Hz
19Hz
34Hz

10=1Hz
18=1.8Hz
34=3.4Hz

1.18s
1.13s
1.03s

1.06s
1.16s
.97s

1.1633s
1.1266s
1.02s

1.848m
1.06m
.62m

Affect of Amplitude on Wavelength and Wave Speed (Experiment B)

Frequency (Hz)
Time for crest to travel length of spring
Wavelength (m)

(cm)
10 cm

(s)
1 Hz

trial 1 in table
above)
Trial 2
Trial 3

1.25s
1.09s
1.06s

20 cm
30 cm

1 Hz
I Hz

Trial 1

Trial 2

Trial 3

Average

1.25s

1.18s

1.06s

1.1633s

1.00s
1.13s

1.25s
1.37s

1.07s
1.28s

1.1066s
1.26s

Wave Speed

1.848m

(m/s)
1.848 m/s

1.943m
1.706m

1.943m/s
1.706m/s

5. Calculations:

1.848m/s
1.908m/s
2.108m/s

Frequency: To get the frequency of the wave, we timed how many waves were
in 10 seconds.
Wave speed: to get the wave speed, we measured how long the distance of the
spring was, then divided that length by the time it took for one wave crest to
reach the other side.
Wavelength: Using, v = f * , ( = v/f), the time divided by the frequency
would equal the wavelength.
So, if you had a frequency of 2, the distance of the spring would be 3 meters,
the time it took for a crest to move from one end to the other would be 1
second, 3/1 = 3. 3/2 = 1.5. The wavelength is 1.5 and the wave speed is 3
meters per second.