Chapter 25, Problem 66A

The crests on a long surface water wave are 20 m apart, and in 1 minute 10 crests pass by. What is the speed of this wave?

To determine

To calculate: The speed of the wave.

Answer to Problem 66A

3.33 m/sec

Explanation of Solution

Given information: The crest on a long surface water are 20 m apart. And in 1 minute 10 crests pass by

Formula used: $v=f\lambda$ here v is velocity, f is frequency and λ is wavelength

Calculation: In 1 minute 10 crests pass by, or we can say in 60 sec 10 crests pass by

So the number of crest which pass in 1 second is $\frac{10}{60}$ . This is the frequency,

Distance between two consecutive crest is 20m. This is wavelength

From $v=f\lambda$ we have $v=\frac{10}{60}\times 20=3.33$ m/sec