Watch a wave travel and see how frequency and wavelength set its speed.
Wave Speed simulator
Drag the wave taller or flatter
This simulation needs a modern browser with canvas support. The measurements and formula below still describe the physics.
Live measurements
Controls
Graph
Formula
v = f × λ
- v Wave speed
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Observations
What's happening
Real-world examples
Ocean waves
Swells with long wavelengths and low frequencies roll across the sea at a steady speed set by v = f times lambda.
Sound
A 440 Hz concert-A travels through air at about 343 m/s, so its wavelength is roughly 0.78 m. Pitch is frequency, not speed.
Light and radio
Electromagnetic waves all travel at c in a vacuum, so a higher frequency simply means a proportionally shorter wavelength.
Guitar string
Fretting a string shortens the wavelength; the wave speed on the string barely changes, so the frequency (pitch) rises.
▸ More about
Uses of wave speed
- Understanding why pitch is frequency while sound speed is fixed by the air
- Seeing why all light travels at c but colours have different wavelengths
- Explaining how ocean swells of different wavelengths move at different speeds
- Building intuition for the wave equation before a physics exam
wave speed pitfalls
- Thinking a taller (higher-amplitude) wave travels faster
- Assuming the medium particles move along with the wave
- Confusing frequency (cycles per second) with wave speed (metres per second)
wave speed questions (5)
What is the wave speed formula?
Wave speed equals frequency times wavelength: v = f times lambda. Frequency (f) counts how many cycles pass a point each second, measured in hertz; wavelength is the distance between two crests, measured in metres. Multiply them and you get the speed in metres per second. The simulator runs this live, so nudging either slider updates the speed instantly.
Does changing the frequency change the wave speed?
It depends on what you hold constant. In this simulator frequency and wavelength are independent sliders, so raising the frequency while keeping the wavelength fixed does increase v = f times lambda. In many real media, though, the medium fixes the speed, and raising the frequency instead shortens the wavelength so the product stays the same. The simulator lets you explore both cases by choosing which value you change.
Does amplitude affect wave speed?
No. Amplitude sets how tall the wave is and how much energy it carries, but it does not change how fast the pattern travels. Drag the wave taller or flatter in the simulator and watch the wave speed reading stay put while the energy reading changes. Speed depends only on frequency and wavelength, or in a real medium on the medium itself.
What is the difference between wave speed and particle speed?
They are different things. The wave speed is how fast the crest pattern moves along, shown by the red crest marker. The medium particles, drawn as dots, only bob up and down in place; they never travel with the wave. Energy moves through the medium while the medium itself stays put, which is the defining feature of a wave.
How do I calculate the period from frequency?
The period is the time for one full cycle and is the reciprocal of frequency: T = 1 / f. At 2 Hz the period is 0.5 seconds; at 0.25 Hz it is 4 seconds. The simulator shows the period alongside the wave speed so you can see both change together as you move the frequency slider.