A wave is a disturbance that propagates from its point of origin. For instance, when you throw a rock into a pond, the ripples or water waves move across the surface of the water outward from where you dropped the rock.

Wave speed is the speed at which the wave propagates. Alternatively, it can be defined as the distance traveled by the wave in a given time interval.

To calculate the speed of waves, we use the formula:

Where:

• \( v \) - Speed of the wave (in units of m/s);
• \( f \) - Frequency of the wave (in units of hertz);
• \( T \) - Period of the wave (in units of seconds);
• \( \lambda \) - Wavelength (in units of meters).

For example, let's calculate the speed of sound waves in a medium where a 1500-Hz frequency produces a wavelength of 0.221 m.

We are given:

• \( f = 1500 \) Hz
• \( \lambda = 0.221 \) m

Using the equation for wave speed, we can calculate:

Hence, the speed of the sound waves in the given medium is 331.5 m/s.

Now, let's see how to calculate wave speed using our calculator. We'll consider the same example as in the previous section:

1. Enter the wave frequency (\( f = 1500 \) Hz) and wavelength (\( \lambda = 0.221 \) m) in the respective fields.
2. The tool will display the wave speed (\( v = 331.5 \) m/s).

You can calculate the speed of waves by typing the wave period (or wave frequency) and wave number (or wavelength).