Answer:
The frequency and the wavelength
Explanation:
A wave is a periodic disturbance of the space that carries energy without carrying matter.
The displacement of a wave is described by a sine/cosine function.
Moreover, there exist two types of waves:
- Mechanical waves: they are produced by the oscillations of the particles in a medium - they can only propagate through a medium (not through a vacuum)
- Electromagnetic waves: they consist of the oscillations of the electric and magnetic fields - these are the only waves able to propagate through a vacuum
The speed of a wave is given by:
[tex]v=f \lambda[/tex]
where:
[tex]f[/tex] is the frequency of the wave, which is the number of oscillations completed by the wave per second
[tex]\lambda[/tex] is the wavelength of the wave, which is the distance between two consecutive crests (point of maximum amplitude) of the wave
Therefore, if we know wavelength and frequency of a wave, we can calculate its speed.
