You need a little patience when you click the
next button for the script to generate the wave forms.
The height of the wave is called its amplitude.
Sound waves are louder when the amplitude is higher. Light waves are
brighter when the amplitude is higher. In the animation you can change the
amplitude by typing a number between 2 and 90 and then clicking the
Amplitude button.
Wavelength is the
distance between successive peaks. There is a relationship between
wavelength and frequency. The shorter the wavelength is, the higher the
frequency and vice versa. For visible light, the blue end of the spectrum
has the shortest wavelength and the highest frequency. At the other end of
the spectrum, red light has the longest wavelength and the lowest
frequency. You can read more about electromagnetic
waves on the Electromagnetic spectrum page. Radio waves have longer
wavelengths and lower frequencies than light waves, but they are
essentially the same thing, ie electromagnetic waves. X-rays have much
higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths than visible light.
For
electromagnetic waves the wavelength is equal to the speed of light
divided by the frequency of the wave.
Now you can experiment with adding sine waves
together on my new Phun Physics page.
