Consider the wave equation \(y = 5\text{mm} \sin [1\text{cm}^{-1}x - 60\text{s}^{-1}t]\). The wave number is?
Answer Details
The wave number is a measure of how many waves fit into a unit distance. In the given wave equation, the wave number is 1 cm^(-1). This can be seen from the argument of the sine function, which is 1 x - 60 t. The units of x and t are cm and s, respectively, so the units of the argument are cm^(-1) s^(-1). The wave number is therefore equal to the coefficient of x in the argument, which is 1 cm^(-1).