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Chapter 7: Problem 2

What are the units for wavelength and frequency of electromagnetic waves? What is the speed of light in meters per second and miles per hour?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The units for wavelength and frequency of electromagnetic waves are meters (m) and hertz (Hz) respectively. The speed of light is about \(3.00 \times 10^8\) meters per second. In miles per hour, the speed of light is about \(670,616,629\) miles per hour.

Step by step solution

01

Identifying the Units of Wavelength and Frequency

The wavelength of electromagnetic waves is usually measured in meters (m), while the frequency is measured in hertz (Hz). To remember this, one can recall that wavelength is a measure of distance, thus having spatial units such as meters. On the other hand, frequency is the number of oscillations per second, which is measured in Hz. Therefore, the units for wavelength and frequency of electromagnetic waves are meters (m) and hertz (Hz) respectively.
02

Identifying the Speed of Light in Meters per Second

The speed of light in a vacuum is a well-known constant. It is approximately \(299,792,458\) meters per second. This value is commonly rounded to \(3.00 \times 10^8\) meters per second in physics and engineering as it is easier to work with.
03

Converting the Speed of Light into Miles per Hour

To convert the speed of light from meters per second to miles per hour, a conversion factor is used. Knowing that 1 meter is approximately 0.000621371 miles and 1 hour is 3600 seconds, we can perform the conversion. Multiply \(299,792,458\) meters per second by 0.000621371 to convert meters to miles and then multiply by 3600 to convert seconds to hours to yield approximately \(670,616,629\) miles per hour.

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